'i-i;t. BELLS OF 




COGttRAN 



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THE BELLS OF THE 
BLUE PAGODA 



THE STRANGE ENCHANTMENT 
OF A CHINESE DOCTOR 



By 

JEAN CARTER COCHRAN 

Author of "Nancy's Mother," "Foreign Magic," "Old John,'' 
and OtJher Stories 




PHILADELPHIA 

THE WESTMINSTER PRESS 

1922 



0^ y 






Copyright, 1922 
By Frank M. Braselman 



Published in the U. S. A. 



JUL 121922 

©C1.A677489 



TO MY SISTER 

"I never crossed your threshold with a grief. 
But that I went without it; never came 
Heart-hungry but you fed me, eased the blame. 
And gave the sorrow solace and relief. 
I never left you but I took away 
The love that drew me to your side again 
Through the wide door that never could remain 
Quite closed between us for a single day." 

— Author Unknown. 



INTRODUCTION 

IT is no easy task to portray the life of a for- 
eign land; with all the will in the world the 
writer is an outsider and often fails to realize the 
significance of some time-honored custom. All 
that the author can do is to try to catch the 
spirit of the country as best he may and the only 
recipe that one can give to him is that he should 
love the people and the country; otherwise he is 
doomed to failure. In this love there must be no 
lack of sincerity and one must endeavor to draw 
his characters as true to life as he would in writ- 
ing of his own people. 

This story is an attempt to catch the atmos- 
phere and some of the poetry of China; for that 
reason the author has adhered to the Chinese 
custom of calling the characters and places by 
the picturesque names given as a matter of course 
in that country. Little Small-Feet, the Great 
Helpful Lady, and Old Scarred Face are ex- 
amples of this. A book could be written on the 
artistic strain running through all Chinese litera- 



ture that seems to prove China the most truly 
poetical country in the Tvorld. 

Although the adventures of Little Small-Feet 
are imaginary, many of the incidents related 
were described to the author, who treasured up 
these events and wove them into one complete 
narrative. In China the occurrence that sounds 
the most improbable is the one of all others that 
is most apt to be true. In closing the writer 
would like to pay a tribute to Dr. Ida Kahn, Dr. 
Mary Stone, and many other Chinese women 
who are to-day the hope of their country in the 
self-denying, constructive work which they are 
doing. If anyone puts down this volume with a 
doubt as to the delightful, sterling qualities of the 
average Chinese man or woman, this book has 
failed to reflect the author's real feeling and pur- 
pose. She has endeavored in all that she has 
written to keep before her the ideals of one very 
near and dear who willingly laid down his own 
life that China might have light. 

February 1, 1922. J. C. C. 



VI 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

IN publishing this story the author wishes to 
acknowledge the kindness of Dr. Isaac Taylor 
Headland, who has allowed her to quote in full 
the poem, "Little Small-Feet," from his "Chi- 
nese Mother Goose Rhymes." Gratitude is also 
due to Dr. Headland for the material on Chinese 
training from his book, "Home Life in China," 
of which it may be said that there is no more 
amusing or instructive book on Chinese family 
hfe and education. His book on "Court Life in 
China" is a veritable classic on the subject and 
has been freely referred to in regard to funeral 
rites and ceremonies. Grateful acknowledgment 
is made of the courtesy of the publishers, Fred- 
erick A. Stokes Company, in granting permis- 
sion to use, at the beginning of many of the chap- 
ters, lines from the poem by Alfred Noyes, "The 
Flower of Old Japan." The name, "Creeping 
Sin," was suggested by the character of that 
name in the same poem. Some of the photo- 
graphs used are published in Shanghai by A. S. 

vii 



Watson and Company, and were taken by D. 
Mennie. Mr. Mennie's artistic photographs of 
China are a joy to all those who know the 
picturesque bits of the "The Flowery King- 
dom," or, rather, "The Flowery Republic." 
Acknowledgment is also given to T. Hobbie for 
the use of a photograph. 



viu 



CONTENTS 

PAOB 

Intkoduction V 

I The Bells of the Blue Pagoda ... 1 

II Creeping Sin 22 

III In the Spider's Den 36 

IV The City That Lies in the Shadow of 

Purple Mountain 53 

V When Violets Came Again 74 

VI Where the Hills Were Blue .... 92 

VII Was It Creeping Sin? 112 

VIII Little Small-Feet Takes a Journey . 131 

IX The City of the Blue Pagoda . . . 154 

X The Deadly Pestilence 176 

XI "The Terror by Night" 196 

XII The Fearsome Caverns 218 

XIII Lord Chang Eats Bitterness .... 241 

XIV "The Old Order Changeth" .... 255 

XV A City Where Dreams Come True . . 277 



IX 



CHAPTER I 
THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

O^ many a milk-white pigeon roams 

The purple cherry crops. 
The mottled miles of pearly domes. 

And blue pagoda tops. 
The river with its golden canes 

And dark piratic dhows. 
To where beyond the twisting vanes 

The burning mountain glows. 

— Alfred Noyes. 

THE clusters of plum and cherry trees that 
covered the slopes of the little hills were a 
sea of bloom; Spring's dainty finger tips had run 
softly down each tender twig and tapering 
branch, and when she raised her hands, behold, in 
every place that she had touched there shone a 
blossom. Her little breezes, too, had played 
around the pomegranate thickets and turned 
them a deep red, and then had wandered away to 
tease the junks upon the river, at one moment 
blowing great gusts and the next leaving their 
sails hanging dejected and empty. These pranks 



2 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

were wanton mischief, for the truants knew very 
well that at this hour they were due at the old 
pagoda, to ring the fairy bells that hung from its 
carved balconies, and thus assure the anxious 
mothers who dwelt in the great walled city that 
the evil spirits were being frightened away and 
that their children would come to no harm. 

Early in the morning, gentle Spring had 
warned the madcap breezes to be on the alert, 
and never to drift far away, for when green 
things were growing there was danger of spells 
and witchcraft and what was the use of building 
a pagoda on enchanted ground, if the bells were 
not kept constantly tinkling? 

Certainly everything was auspicious so far as 
time and weather were concerned and yet there 
was trouble in the noble family of Chang. Could 
it possibly be that the little breezes were to 
blame? Old Wang Dah Mah, the amah, always 
maintained that if the pagoda bells had rung at 
the moment when Little Small-Feet was born, 
the baby would have been the much desired son, 
instead of a third unwelcome girl. 

Lord Chang, the little girl's father, was the 
most bitterly disappointed of all the family. To 
have no heir to offer sacrifices before the family 



THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 3 

ancestral tablet was worse than unfortunate; it 
was a calamity. Nevertheless he allowed no sign 
of the storm of rage that shook him to appear on 
his immobile features ; he could never forget the 
dignity that befitted him as a gentleman of rank. 

"What use have we for another girl? I shall 
be ruined by all these marriage portions ; we had 
better put her away," he exclaimed in a hard 
voice, and at the same time broke the fan he 
was holding into bits between his long, slender 
fingers. 

"Ah, no, only the very poor should employ 
those methods!" cried his wife. "Give my baby 
to me." Poor Lady Chang! Added to her own 
sorrow was the realization that she was consid- 
ered at fault. 

Little Small-Feet herself, cuddled up warm to 
her mother's side, was absolutely obhvious to the 
coolness of her reception to the land of apricot 
blossoms, yellow dragons, and blue pagodas. 

Only in the servant's quarters was the matter 
longer discussed. Long ago the ever wily Lord 
Chang had forbidden mention of the term "boy" 
in the house, for fear that the hovering, mahg- 
nant spirits would come to realize on what his 
hopes were builded and out of sheer malice keep 



4 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

the longed-for heir away. But now among the 
iinderHngs Wang Dah Mah aired her views very 
freely, and all her friends agreed wdth her that 
the silence of the pagoda bells boded no good to 
anyone. 

"If only those bells had rung, things would 
be different in these courts to-day," Wang 
Dah Mah would shake her head and say. "No 
one would listen to me, however, but that is 
always the way — great people need no advice." 
Which was really scarcely fair, as Wang Dah 
Mah had never thought of suggesting such an 
expedient until Little Small-Feet had uttered 
her first cry. 

Under old Wang Dah Mah's blue cotton coat 
beat a w^arm, motherly heart, and she looked after 
the little newcomer's welfare so carefully that the 
baby throve like the spring flowers on the moun- 
tain side. Out in the courtyard, where the flow- 
ering almond scented the air, by the miniature 
pond where goldfish played, the faithful amah 
would sit by the hour with her charge in her arms, 
croning nursery rimes in a cracked falsetto 
voice. One song, above all others, seemed to 
attract the baby's attention, for she would coo 
and laugh when it was sung: 



THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 5 

"The small-footed girl 

With the sweet little smile. 
She loves to eat sugar 

And sweets all the while. 
Her money's all gone 

And because she can't buy. 
She holds her small feet 

While she sits down to cry." 

When it was ended the little one gurgled and 
smiled and, as she grew older, tried to hold up 
her tiny toes for inspection in such a knowing 
manner that then and there Wang Dah Mah 
began to call her Little Small-Feet. It made no 
difference that the baby's parents had chosen the 
name of Kwan Yin — Bright Mercy — as a pretty 
compliment to the Goddess of Mercy; that was 
soon forgotten and Little Small-Feet the baby 
became. 

Spring's mischievous breezes had swept the 
last pink petal from the plum and peach trees 
and were rippling the soft, green sea of rice, 
when the first great event happened in Little 
Small-Feet's life. One April morning there was 
a stir and bustle in the women's court of the 
Chang palace. Caterers had been busy for days 
making toothsome dainties, salting almonds and 
watermelon seeds, and sugaring ginger and slices 



6 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

of oranges, not to mention the weightier matters 
of digging up long-buried eggs from their hidden 
stores and stewing shark fins and slimy sea slugs, 
in preparation for a formal feast that was to cele- 
brate the day when Little Small-Feet was one 
month old. The excitement had spread beyond 
the walls of the palace of the Changs, over curved 
tile roofs and through circular doorways, into 
other palaces and homes, where official wives and 
ladies of high degree were all busy making ready 
to do honor to the occasion by their august 
presence. Seldom have been seen such reds and 
blues, and satins that would stand alone, stiff 
with the most gorgeous embroideries. There 
were long chains, and rings and pins of jade, and 
gay head ornaments, and tiny, beautifully em- 
broidered shoes that were to adorn their "golden 
Hlies." A feast at the Changs' was an occasion 
indeed and not to be entered into without much 
thought and many flutterings. 

For the third time the runners had been sent 
out to summon them, and now at length the 
guests knew that the time of the feast was truly 
upon them and they must go. So each lady, 
supported by the hand of a maid, toddled on her 
tiny feet to her waiting chair and was duly as- 



THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 7 

sisted to enter by her attendants. The shades 
were nicely adjusted so that the luxurious pas- 
senger could see out, but with care that no 
curious eye could peep in upon her, and then the 
order to depart was given. 

Sedan chair after sedan chair of the most 
gorgeous appearance was carried through the 
wide-open gates of the Chang palace. Little 
Small-Feet's mother, as gay as any butterfly, 
stood to greet her guests at the exact spot in the 
court that etiquette demanded and, bowing 
deeply, conducted them to the reception room. 
All was smiles, good cheer, and politeness, though 
somewhere in the background of each lady's 
mind ran the refrain: *'It should have been a boy! 
It should have been a boy!" 

"Such a fuss over the 'little happiness' of an 
unwelcome girl," whispered shrewish old Li Tai 
Tai to a neighbor when the hostess could not 
hear. "They never would have had this feast — I 
know old Chang too well — had it not been that 
the presents more than compensate for the cost 
of the feast. He has never wasted a cash; every 
one he spends brings in two at the very least." 

Old Li Tai Tai had spoken truly, for Little 
Small-Feet was showered with gifts, all of them 



8 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

handsome and costly. There were solid silver 
and gold ornaments, embroidered coats, and 
many other things too nmnerous to mention. 

When everything was ready for the ceremony 
Little Small-Feet was divested of her swaddling 
clothes and dressed in a bright-red dress, while 
an admiring group of ladies watched and 
commented. 

"Ah!" exclaimed a guest, "I think she will be 
very beautiful. See how tiny her hands and feet 
are, and how her eyes sparkle." 

"Yes," repUed old Lady Li, who was wont to 
take a gloomy view of things, and who prided 
herself on her knowledge of proverbs and wise 
saws, "but the saying is, *The beautiful bird gets 
caged.' " 

"That's the reason, I suppose," tittered a 
pretty young wife in an aside to another, "that 
Li Tai Tai is so free to go back and forth at will; 
no one would think it worth while to cage her." 

Unfortunately Li Tai Tai heard this remark 
and the black scowl she gave threatened a terrible 
storm, but at this moment Little Small-Feet 
began to scream herself, which diverted the old 
lady's attention. Thus far in the ceremony the 
baby had submitted with a good grace, but when 



THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 9 

these strange elders of hers started to shave her 
head, she felt that this was one thing no self- 
respecting infant could stand, and she objected 
with the whole force of her young lungs. If 
Little Small-Feet had arrived at years of dis- 
cretion she would have realized how futile such a 
protest was; the heads of baby girls had been 
shaved for several thousand years and could she, 
the daughter of the great Lord Chang, hope to 
escape? 

Old Li Tai Tai tried to quiet her by tactfully 
singing, 

"We keep a dog to watch the house, 
A pig is useful, too ; 
We keep a cat to catch a mouse. 
But what can we do 
With a girl like you ?" 

Little Small-Feet, as if she realized that she 
had been insulted, cried louder than ever at this 
noise and the dreadful grimaces the old lady 
made, and refused to be comforted until old 
Wang Dah Mah had given her a stick of barley 
candy which she peacefully sucked. The shav- 
ing was then completed, and the usual two tiny 
tufts of hair were left on the top of her head to 
guard against the evil eye. 

At this feast, too. Little Small-Feet was form- 



10 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

ally given the name Kwan Yin. This to be sure 
was only a milk name, to be changed later on in 
life, but in reality it was used only by Lord 
Chang, when he was particularly disagreeable. 
This happened frequently for he never could be 
brought to smile with favor upon his youngest 
daughter. 

The months rolled peacefully by for Little 
Small-Feet in spite of her father's frowns. 
Irises followed the earlier blossoms, and then 
came the peonies with their long satin petals; 
after them came the roses, making the courtyard 
a veritable bower, and, when the heat was most 
intense, the lotus flowers bloomed in the ponds of 
the gardens. The courtyards and gardens of the 
palace formed a world in itself beyond which the 
women of the family seldom strayed, but they 
were content with their gilded cage. 

The City of the Blue Pagoda was situated 
south of the great river, among beautiful moun- 
tains and fertile valleys with lovely groves of 
bamboo trees. Even in winter roses and violets 
bloomed, birds came down from the north, and 
herons, wild geese, and pheasants added to the 
picturesqueness of the landscape. The city was 
the birthplace of Lord Chang, and whenever he 



THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 11 

fell into official disgrace at court, he would retire 
thither until his misdeeds were forgotten, or until 
he could buy his way into some more profitable 
employment. His family resided here almost 
constantly, as his positions were usually of short 
duration and traveling took many weeks of dis- . 
comfort and expense. At the time when Little 
Small-Feet came, her father was under a cloud 
because of some very shady transactions as gov- 
ernor of a province; these things were not done 
"in a comer" and the long-suffering people 
finally arose in their wrath and demanded his 
removal. All this had certainly not helped Lord 
Chang's disposition, and to soften his disappoint- 
ment over these misfortunes he resorted to his old 
friend, the opium pipe. 

The family enjoyed their home much better 
when official business called the gentleman of the 
household away. But for the first years of 
Little Small-Feet's existence he was constantly 
at home. The baby could not understand why 
he was the only one of the household from whom 
she could never win a smile, but it did not 
trouble her very much so long as all the rest of 
the world responded so eagerly. 

Before the lotus blossoms began to fade on 



12 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

their long stems and the rice was garnered in 
from the hillside, Little Small-Feet had learned 
some very interesting things ; one was that if she 
screamed long enough, doubled up her fists hard 
enough, and grew red enough in the face, she 
could have almost any mortal thing she wanted. 
Having learned these facts she very seldom failed 
to put the knowledge into use, and if it had not 
been for the natural sweetness of her disposi- 
tion, she would have been terribly spoiled in a 
few years. Old Wang Dah Mah aided and 
abetted these practices for she was never known 
to refuse the child any desire. 

"Little Small-Feet wanted it," was surely 
excuse enough. 

At other times the baby would be smiling and 
winsome, her black eyes snapping, and she always 
had a gleeful laugh for anyone who played with 
her. When Wang Dah Mah dressed her in a 
bright-blue silk coat with little green trousers and 
hat and shoes embroidered in butterflies, she was 
such an entirely adorable infant that the little 
breezes could scarcely be persuaded to play any- 
where but in the Changs' courtyard. They would 
blow softly over the poppies and the lotus ponds, 
making the flowers dance and bow just for the 



THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 13 

sake of hearing Little Small-Feet shout and 
clap her hands with glee, and of course they 
forgot entirely that the pagoda bells were hang- 
ing silent and that every mother's heart in the 
city was beating anxiously. 

One day, however, when Little Small-Feet was 
two years old, gentle Spring made a great dis- 
covery. In the corner of the Changs' garden, on 
a hill which overlooked the city wall, the river, 
and the pagoda, was a beautiful tiled pavilion. 
Among all the haunts in the garden, the baby 
hked this spot the best, because from it she could 
watch the stately junks with their fanlike sails, 
the pranks of the little breezes, and last but not 
least the blue pagoda, which she liked far better 
than anything she had ever played with; there 
were numberless stormy scenes because Wang 
Dah Mah would not give it to her as a toy. 

Now gentle Spring discovered that Little 
Small-Feet fairly screamed with delight when- 
ever she heard the music of the pagoda bells, so 
of course the friendly dame imparted the good 
news to her breezes and from that day forward 
the pagoda bells were ringing constantly. 

Sad to confess. Little Small-Feet was very 
slow in learning to walk; it was so much easier 



14 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

to be carried around in the arms of the faithful 
Wang Dah Mah that probably she would never 
have attempted to use her own small feet had it 
not been for the delightful games which she saw 
her two older sisters playing. After watching 
them and their companions sitting in a circle, 
with their hands together in a fascinating game 
called "water the flowers," or happy over "flower 
seller," she wanted to join them, and at length 
she began to stand alone. And very soon her 
toddling steps led her into much mischief. 

Slowly Little Small-Feet grew out of baby- 
hood to girlhood, and all the time she was absorb- 
ing and learning, but not from books, for Wang 
Dah Mah was her chief teacher and she did not 
know the character for "man" from the character 
for "happiness." The amah taught her charge 
other things, however, such as respect to parents, 
how to bow to ladies who came to visit her 
mother, and countless polite sayings which it is 
necessary for girls of high rank to know. She 
was taught that the harm in lying lies in being 
found out, and to be careful never "to lose one's 
face." All these things the pupil picked up only 
too quickly. One point was often discussed be- 
tween them, and that was about the pagoda; 



THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 15 

Little Small-Feet wished to go there but for once 
Wang Dah Mah absolutely refused to take her; 
instead she tried to frighten her out of her desire - 
by horrid tales of evil spirits and demons. Wang 
Dah Mah absolutely believed these tales herself, 
and nothing would have induced her to visit the 
haunted ground on which the pagoda stood. 

One beautiful autumn day when Little Small- 
Feet was four and a half years old, she sat in the 
pavilion, listening to the pagoda bells, and watch- 
ing a flock of wild geese arriving from the north 
for the winter. An overmastering longing to see 
that beautiful blue tower nearer at hand came 
over her; she must know how the bells sounded 
outside the city wall. Her heart began to beat 
wildly. Should she run away to the pagoda just 
for a short time? No one would miss her. 
Clutching a little toy she was playing with tightly 
in her hand, she slipped down to the other end of 
the garden, through the reception room where 
her father received his guests, through another 
court and still another. For once the usual well- 
thronged house was empty; stranger yet, when 
she arrived at the great entrance gates, they stood 
a little ajar. On reaching the street she saw the 
reason for all this lack of runners and attendants ; 



16 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

half a block away a group of strolling players 
were performing, and all the available popula- 
tion were gathered around intent on watching the 
actors. 

Now that the moment of freedom had come. 
Little Small-Feet was rather embarrassed to 
know what to do; but as all her acquaintances 
were on one end of the street, instinct told her to 
turn the other way. Never before had she been 
on this path alone, or on foot, and the sensation 
was truly novel. The shops, the street signs, and 
the vendors were most fascinating, and she often 
stopped to look and listen. The thought of the 
pagoda, however, drew her ever forward, and by 
sheer chance she took the few turns that led her 
to the great city gates set in the massive walls. 
This place was truly alarming, for beasts of 
burden, carts, and wheelbarrows were passing in 
and out in an unbroken stream. Little Small- 
Feet shrank back, thoroughly frightened, and 
was just in the act of turning and trotting home, 
when through the arch, a half mile or so away, 
she caught sight of the pagoda. Her courage 
and resolution returned, and keeping close to the 
wall, she slipped through the traffic and started 
out toward the alluring landmark. 



THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 17 

By the time the last step to the pagoda was 
taken, Little Small-Feet was weary enough, and 
climbing up two flights of the steep stairs to the 
corner of the carved balcony, she curled up in a 
heap to listen to the bells and enjoy the sight of 
a fleet of beautiful ships in the river. The 
breezes must have realized that they had a guest 
that day, for they swung the bells back and forth 
with a will and to the sound of their silver tones 
she fell fast asleep. 

Suddenly, much later, the wanderer awoke 
with a shiver to find that night was coming on 
with swift, noiseless tread, and out of the dark, 
in the chamber of the pagoda, she saw two bright, 
cruel eyes watching her. The child started for- 
ward with a shiver of terror. She must go home, 
and to do so she had to pass those never- winking 
eyes. All the stories of demons and evil spirits 
which Wang Dah Mah had told flashed into her 
mind. What should she do? If she was to get 
into the city before the gates were shut, she must 
start at once. With a mighty effort of will, the 
child ran into the room, past the gleaming eyes 
and down the two flights of stairs, hearing soft 
footsteps following her, accompanied by low 
snarls and growls. This gave wings to her feet 



18 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

and, never heeding what direction she took, she 
ran as fast as possible toward the city wall. 
Unfortunately poor Little Small-Feet in her 
terror took a road leading to another gate farther 
down toward the city, and this mistake changed 
all the course of her future existence. Where 
were the little breezes now, and what kind of 
friends were they, to desert her in her hour of 
need? And all the time during the little girl's 
flight the horrid dog followed, yapping and 
snarling. The breezes might have learned a 
lesson from his constancy. 

As Little Small-Feet approached the city she 
came up to a group of itinerating beggars who 
were going in the same direction. On catching 
sight of this beautifully dressed child they turned 
at once and surrounded her. With rough voices 
and coarse oaths they spoke to her ; too frightened 
to reply, she tried to hurry on. It was useless; 
dirty hands clutched and pulled her, and she was 
immediately threatened by a quarreling mob, 
more like a pack of dogs than human beings. 
One shrewish crone was the leader, and as the 
band seemed about to pull the poor child to 
pieces, the hag interfered : 

"What stupidity is this ; shall we obtain money 



THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 19 

for these gay clothes if we tear them all to rags? 
They are worth several taels at the very least. 
We will take her and hide her for a ransom, 
which will come to more than a thousand suits 
such as this." 

"Yes, Old Scarred Face, and never a cash of 
it shall we see, for you and Creeping Sin will 
pocket it all; *spilt water cannot be gathered up 
again'; let each take something now; I for one 
will have the coat." 

At the name of Creeping Sin, Old Scarred 
Face turned livid with fear and rage. Had the 
connection between them been discovered? If so, 
a great chance for their profit was gone. "You 
cow," she raged, "if you all get fighting over the 
garments there won't be a thread to take to the 
pawnbroker's to sell; you know that without my 
help you would be in prison to-day, instead of the 
most prosperous band of beggars on this side of 
the Yang-tse-Kiang. I shall leave you all to 
make what you can without me," and she started 
to go. 

Knowing that she spoke the truth, they would 
not let her go, but said that they would follow 
her advice. Thereupon she put the poor, terror- 
stricken Little Small-Feet in their midst, where 



20 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

she would be unobserved by passers-by, and hur- 
ried the party along to a group of dirty mat-shed 
hovels huddled at the base of the city walls. In 
this particular vicinity there were thousands of 
these huts, and he would be a brave man indeed 
who would dare to enter this district and search 
for anyone. 

In all that vast city no heart was so desolate as 
Little Small-Feet's; instead of the rich fare of 
the palace, the dirty rice from a beggar's bowl 
was to be her portion. She could not even cry for 
Old Scarred Face told her that she would tear 
her limb from limb if she shed but one tear, and 
Little Small-Feet realized that silence was a 
necessity. No rich bed was her pallet but a bun- 
dle of loathsome straw, and worst of all there was 
no doting Wang Dah Mah to comfort her and 
quiet her fears. Surely her old amah had been 
right when she had told her charge that the blue 
pagoda was an ill place to seek. 

Little breezes, little breezes, you may well ring 
the pagoda bells softly and sadly as if for a 
passing soul, for henceforward you will seek in 
vain for a playmate in the winding paths of the 
garden or by the pool of goldfish. ISTo childish 
hands will be clapped in glee at the dancing pop- 



THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 21 

pies and waving fields of rice for Little Small- 
Feet has turned into a somber highway, the road 
of tears and sorrow, the road down which many 
tiny, childish feet have trod and very few re- 
turned, the road to beggar land. 



CHAPTER II 

CREEPING SIN 

Because the white-faced mandarin 
Would dog our steps for many a mile. 
And sit upon each purple stile 
Before we came to it, and smile 

And smile; his name was Creeping Sin. 

His grin was very sleek and sly : 
Timidly we passed him by. 

He did not seem at all to care : 
So, thinking we were safely past. 
We ventured to look back at last. 

O, dreadful blank ! — He was not there ! 

— Alfred Noyes. 

THAT night the sun dropped suddenly to 
rest in a heavy bank of gray clouds, and soon 
a violent wind arose, far different from the soft 
breath of the little breezes, and shrieked like a 
wolf through the streets of the city, tearing down 
signs and scattering loose tiles in every direction. 
Like frightened birds, the junks upon the river 
scurried into shelter, and the high waves beating 
against the shore threatened to sink them as they 
lay at anchor. 

Late in the evening the rain began to fall in 

22 



CREEPING SIN 23 



torrents, so that the frail walls of the hut where 
Little Small-Feet lay were nearly washed away. 
The water ran in a stream under the straw on 
which she slept, and the wind's wild wail was a 
startling contrast to Wang Dah Mah's crooning 
cradle song. It was no wonder that the lost one 
awakened from her troubled sleep screaming with 
fear. Fortunately for her, her jailers slept 
soundly, for had she aroused them, a speedy 
retribution would have followed. 

Old Scarred Face had left the hut some hours 
before, putting the child under the custody of the 
other mendicants, while with crafty intent she 
turned her footsteps cityward. The great city 
gates were about to swing to for the night, when 
she pushed her way boldly through, along with a 
score of other belated travelers. She resembled 
nothing so much as an animated scarecrow : as she 
strode along with her staff in one hand, her beg- 
gar's bowl in the other, and her little mongrel cur 
following at her heels, but she attracted no par- 
ticular attention as there were many other such 
figures roaming the streets. Already the wind 
had begun to moan and passers-by were hurrying 
home to shelter before the rain should fall, but 
unconscious of wind and weather the woman 



24 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

plied her trade, holding out her bowl with a de- 
testable whine, which arose into a curse when she 
asked in vain. All the time her senses were on 
the alert to pick up fragments of gossip that 
might give her some clue to the identity of Little 
Small-Feet. 

Wayfarers were in far too much of a hurry, 
however, on this stormy evening, to stay and 
retail news. There was no cluster of idlers in 
front of the tea shops or at the corners, and she 
dared not stop pedestrians and ask them ques- 
tions for fear of arousing suspicions, so she was 
forced to content herself by reviling them in her 
heart with many fearful oaths. 

After an hour or two of aimless wanderings. 
Old Scarred Face came to the part of the town 
where the gentry resided and found, outside of 
one of the largest gateways, an excited knot of 
people. In an indifferent manner she ap- 
proached the outskirts of the crowd and listened 
to the discussion. It did not take her long to 
determine that here was the place to find the in- 
formation she sought. 

"It's Little Small-Feet, I say. Little Small- 
Feet and she has been stolen, or else the evil 
spirits have carried her away," wailed a respect- 



CREEPING SIN 25 

able-looking woman, the center of the group. 
"They did not have the pagoda bells rung at her 
birth and this is the result. I always told them 
how it would end. She was no ordinary child, 
and now I know that she was a changeHng!" and 
she began to cry in good earnest. 

These words of Wang Dah Mah made the 
crowd feel that this was a serious matter indeed 
and not to be lightly discussed. At the words 
"e'vil spirits" each one looked over his shoulder 
apprehensively to see that no such ill-omened 
specters were lurking behind him. To Old 
Scarred Face the news was honey and nectar; 
this was at last the intelligence she sought. 

"Whose child is lost?" she inquired of one of 
the servants standing at her elbow. 

"It is strange that you should not have heard," 
he rephed; "Lord Chang's little girl has been 
stolen away, or perhaps, as Wang Dah Mah be- 
lieves, the spirits have carried her to their own 
country." 

At the name of Lord Chang, a gleam appeared 
in the eyes of Old Scarred Face. Here was 
booty indeed ! 

"And what is the reward?" she inquired, a 
shade too eagerly. 



26 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

The man turned on her with suspicion: "No 
reward at all, if I know anything about the man. 
But why do you want to know? I believe you 
stole hex yourself, you hag." 

Old Scarred Face was in greater danger now 
than she had ever been before. But just as the 
man started a hue and cry against her, the rain 
began to fall in such torrents that all were forced 
to run for shelter, and in the midst of the con- 
fusion the beggar woman disappeared. 

The cunning builders of the City of the Blue 
Pagoda took no chances with fate, but had care- 
fully laid out the streets to foil the dread designs 
of mahcious spirits. The spirits as a whole must 
be rather dull, for though they can travel with 
ease and swiftness down a straight highway, they 
are at once bewildered when it comes to a curve. 
All the thoroughfares, therefore, were planned to 
curve and wind in a fashion that was confusing 
to many besides the crafty demons. 

It was wonderful how Old Scarred Face kept 
her course in the teeth of the gale. With as little 
hesitation as a mole runs through the passages 
and underground galleries of the earth, she 
picked her way down the Lane of Filial Piety, 
across Duck Street, and up the Alley of Happi- 



CREEPING SIN 27 

ness, on and on through a veritable labyrinth of 
lanes and alleys, until in the very heart of the 
maze she halted before a blank wall that stood in 
front of a gateway. Here again the plots of evil 
spirits were to be frustrated, for with all their 
knowledge of the world and of infernal regions, 
the wicked ones are unable to go around such a 
wall and enter the house. In this instance, how- 
ever, the plan seemed to have failed, or perchance 
the mischief-makers had some other mode of en- 
trance, for throughout the length and breadth of 
the Flowery Kingdom, it would be hard to find a 
place so full of every form of plot and evil design 
as this building before which Old Scarred Face 
had stopped. 

The beggar woman did not falter a moment 
but, going boldly up to the gate, gave three short 
raps and in a moment rapped again. It was 
apparently a signal, for the gateman appeared 
immediately, and with no sign of surprise allowed 
the woman to come in. As she stood under the 
protecting eaves of the gatehouse the vagrant 
gave herself a shake like a huge Newfoundland 
puppy and drew a dirty hand across her eyes in 
order to clear her vision from raindrops. No 
greater contrast could be imagined than the 



28 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

ragged, drenched mendicant with her yellow dog 
slinking at her heels and the spacious, luxurious 
court she now entered. Now and again, when the 
rain lifted its veil, distant vistas of winding paths 
and rockeries could be seen, with here and there a 
goldfish pool, or flower beds of gay chrysanthe- 
mums, while at the other end of the court the 
ornate lines of a stately guest room were visible. 

Old Scarred Face had no desire to be shown 
thither, however, and with a nod to the attendant 
she slipped through a round archway that stood 
on one side of the garden, down a narrow stair- 
way, and by an underground hallway through a 
maze of rooms and larger apartments. At length 
she came to a curiously wrought iron door that 
seemed absolutely soundproof, and above it hung 
a rope which she pulled very slowly. As she 
stood waiting, a bat disturbed by the noise 
brushed her with its wings as it flew past. 

"Ha! A bat! A good omen!" she exclaimed; 
"I knew my luck had turned." After a moment 
the door opened a few inches, and an inquiring 
face appeared in the aperture ; then the door was 
thrown back by a humpbacked dwarf who leered 
up into the hag's face in a most revolting fashion. 

Poor Little Small-Feet, to what a pass had she 



CREEPING SIN 29 

now come, that her fortunes should be discussed 
in such a den as this ! 

Few of the inhabitants of the City of the Blue 
Pagoda would have had the hardihood to enter 
that doorway, but Old Scarred Face was un- 
afraid. Two guttered candles and a charcoal 
brazier threw a flickering hght into the center of 
the room, leaving the corners in darkness ; in one 
of these the dwarf gibbered to himself, while 
above one could hear the scurrying feet of rats 
made restless by the storm. The walls and ceil- 
ings were draped in cobwebs in lieu of costly 
tapestry, and a sickish odor of a powerful drug 
made the smoky air still heavier. 

A man was seated at a rickety table, on which 
the two candlesticks stood. At first glance he 
seemed a strange inmate for such an apartment ; 
he was clad in costly silks, his queue was neatly 
plaited, and his shapely hands and long, carefully 
guarded nails all proclaimed him a gentleman. 
A single look, however, at his masklike face and 
crafty eyes was enough to awaken in the observer 
suspicion and dislike. He did not move when 
Old Scarred Face entered, but allowed her to 
remain unnoticed for several minutes. 

"Well, what do you want here?" he finally 



30 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

drawled while he looked her up and down with an 
insufferable smile. 

Ah ! be careful, Creeping Sin, for Old Scarred 
YsLce holds trump cards to-night, and she 
knows it! 

"It is nothing," she answered and turned to go. 

The man perceived his mistake and called her 
back with the inquiry, "Have you eaten rice 
to-night?" 

"Eaten rice! Where could a woman find rice 
a night like this? Can it grow in streets ankle 
deep in water?" 

Creeping Sin thereupon ordered the dwarf, 
who had just enough intelligence to understand 
his commands, to go and fill her bowl in the 
kitchen. 

"What is the news of the road and the great 
game?" asked the man with the same sly smile. 
"Did the last consignment of flowers reach the 
City on the Sea in safety?" 

"All but two of the imbeciles, and they the 
most handsome! The silly girls preferred the 
river for a bed, and threw themselves in when I 
was not looking. One cannot be everywhere at 
once," growled the woman. "I only made a 
paltry shoe or two on the whole transaction, and 



CREEPING SIN 31 

look at the risk I ran. I shall not dare show 
myself at the North Capital for many a long 
day." 

"Never do what you would not have known," 
replied her host unctuously. 

The woman's temper had gradually been ris- 
ing. "That is too much from you! You whom 
we all call Creeping Sin! You who sit like a 
great, fat spider in his den, weaving a web to 
catch flies and moths to the uttermost part of the 
Middle Kingdom! They say you even have mes- 
sengers in foreign lands, and send these slaves to 
the City by the Golden Gate. Is it true? Is it 
true?" and her voice rose to a perfect scream. 

Alarmed by her violence Creeping Sin changed 
his tactics. "Some day I will tell you, and you 
will perhaps unite in a game of even greater 
profit, but just now I have some news of some 
country girls whom we might easily kidnap." 

"Why do you say 'we' when you mean me? I 
take all the danger and hardships of the business, 
while you live in luxury and ease and will not so 
much as allow me to enter your palace. Instead 
you bring me to this cavern, and I am not good 
enough to go in at your front gate. I did to- 
night, however, and will whenever I choose!" 



32 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

Creeping Sin turned a shade darker, and a 
malignant look replaced the crafty smile. "You 
may use the road at your pleasure, but it will not 
be for long, for I know of a certainty that the 
gate is marked, and your comings and goings 
will be watched with interest by eyes that will 
have to be heavily bought to keep them closed. 
Lord Chang has nothing to do and he is on the 
alert for even very small, skinny fish. As for my 
living in luxury, it is widely reported that your 
wealth far exceeds my little savings, and when- 
ever you wish to dig it out of those caves in which 
you have it hidden, you are your own mistress, 
and can do it. If, as you choose to imply, my 
reputation is not above reproach, how about your 
own? Remember, I could reveal a great deal, 
and if you continue as you have begun, it will 
take many shoes to keep me quiet." 

This threat sobered Old Scarred Face and the 
beggar's whine returned to her tone. "Everyone 
knows that 'tigers and deer do not stroll to- 
gether,' so it is safest for us both to hold our 
peace. The front gate was unwatched to-night; 
no one was on the street. I did not even hear the 
watchman's drum that warns thieves not to steal 
and rob because he is on the alert. But I have 



CREEPING SIN 33 

come with good tidings and we are wasting 
precious time. Guess whom I now have in my 
toils; nay, I will tell you for it is too good to 
keep. Lord Chang himself, and no other! At 
last he shall rue having cast me into prison, and 
the sum I paid to go free he shall repay a 
thousandfold!" At the thought of her enemy 
Old Scarred Face reviled most horribly. 

Creeping Sin waited until her paroxysm had 
passed, and sat very much like a wise spider 
gloating over its victim. In his innermost heart 
he knew that the only way to rid himself of this 
accomplice and all that she knew of his plans, 
was to kill her, and at present she was too useful 
for him to contemplate such a course. Therefore 
he humored her, and egged her on, but all the 
time he mentally added up the score he had 
against her, to be paid with interest when the day 
of reckoning came. 

After a moment or two, Old Scarred Face re- 
covered enough to tell the story of Little Small- 
Feet. As Creeping Sin listened, he allowed no 
sign of pleasure to disturb his masklike counte- 
nance, although inwardly he exulted over the 
happy chance that had thrown his archenemy, 
Lord Chang, into his power. 



34 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

"You say you will not take less than twenty 
thousand taels by way of reward?" said Creeping 
Sin. "How do you expect to get it? You can- 
not treat with the man himself; you would rest 
twenty years in jail if you attempted it. I see 
your scheme ; you want me to play the middleman 
and go-between ; but it will take many middlemen 
to lay this before the father, and the cost will be 
heavy. I will attempt it only upon condition of 
reaping two thirds of the ransom." 

"Two thirds of the ransom! Hear him, hear 
him!" the woman shrieked. "The brigand, the 
pirate, robber of poor starving widows, and of 
the virtuous! Goddess of Mercy, hear and 
avenge the helpless !" 

The battle raged almost the whole night 
through, but at length toward morning the 
worthy pair came to an understanding, one that 
they had known in the beginning would be the 
final arrangement. The profits were to be 
divided between them and until the negotiations 
could be successfully completed. Little Small- 
Feet was to be placed under the care of Creeping 
Sin. Old Scarred Face was very suspicious of 
this arrangement but was forced to comply be- 
cause the man refused to consider any other plan. 



CREEPING SIN 35 

"You know full well that you will starve her 
if you keep her," he insisted. "You never yet 
have fed anyone enough to keep body and soul 
together, not even yourself, and if we return the 
child badly treated, we are likely to run into 
danger." 

When Old Scarred Face had consented to this 
arrangement, and had promised to bring Little 
Small-Feet the following evening to the Spider's 
den, Creeping Sin withdrew to his luxurious 
quarters above ground, leaving the woman to 
make herself as comfortable as possible where 
she was, for she could not go from the city until 
the gates were opened in the morning. 

Thus was Little Small-Feet's fate decided by 
these crafty and cruel conspirators, who never 
showed their victims any pity, and who never 
expected to receive compassion should they them- 
selves be caught in the toils. Was it an omen of 
the future that the soft, friendly breezes of the 
summer had fled before the shrill, shrieking blast 
of typhoon and of storm? Or could Kwan Yin 
have taken this full revenge on the helpless one 
whoi through no fault of her own, had discarded 
the goddess' name? 



CHAPTER III 

IN THE SPIDER'S DEN 

He played with children's beating hearts, 
And stuck them full of poisoned darts 

And long green thorns that stabbed and stung ; 
He'd watch until we tried to speak. 
Then thrust inside his pasty cheek 

His long, white, slimy tongue: 
And smile at everything we said; 
And sometimes pat us on the head. 

And say that we were very young. 

— Alfred Noyes. 

THE City of the Blue Pagoda no longer lay 
smiling under the caresses of gentle Spring 
or shimmering in the heat of an August sun» 
The dreams that lay in the hearts of the poppies 
had all been gathered by eager, clutching fingers, 
and the last crop of rice lay on the threshing 
floor. The pagoda itself, which stood as sentinel 
over the fears of the mothers of little children, 
had surely forgotten the purpose for which it 
was erected, for from the mountains back of the 
river wild animals descended upon the town with 
shrieks that sounded like souls in torment. All 
the demons that lurked in cavern and grotto 

36 



IN THE SPIDER'S DEN 37 

seemed to be at large, wailing over roofs and 
twisting their way mercilessly down crooked 
streets that had been so craftily planned to pre- 
vent their entrance. At moments there would 
come a lull in the tempest and the inhabitants 
would draw a sigh of relief, thinking that their 
tormentors had retreated to their mountain 
caves, when a blast still more alarming would 
shake the pagoda to its very foundations and 
threaten to lay the city in ruins. 

Throughout the raging of the tempest. Lady 
Chang and Wang Dah Mah were beside them- 
selves with fear for the fate of their darling. 
Wang Dah Mah had to be restrained almost by 
force from roaming the streets in search of Little 
Small-Feet, while Lady Chang, regardless of 
wind and rain, ran up and down the garden paths 
and peered anxiously into the goldfish ponds and 
into every summer house, in the vain hope that 
her child might be found hidden in some corner. 
The search continued long after the storm had 
abated and the sun had returned to shine on the 
ravages of the typhoon. At first Lord Chang 
appeared as eager as the most zealous and sent 
out criers in every direction. One day, however, 
he told his wife that on the night preceding the 



38 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

typhoon a child exactly answering Little Small- 
Feet's description had been seen to fall into the 
river, and had been swept away by the current. 
And from that hour he ordered all attempts to 
find the little one to be abandoned. 

This was sad news to an undisciplined mother's 
heart, and Lady Chang and Wang Dah Mah 
gave vent to their grief in piercing wails and 
shrieks. The nights of unrestrained weeping 
nearly exhausted Lady Chang and the family 
became alarmed and Lord Chang very angry. 
Such fretting for an unwelcome girl was un- 
seemly and would make them a laughingstock 
throughout the city. The mourning must cease. 
Outward demonstration being denied her, the 
poor mother pined in secret, and there seemed 
danger of her following her little daughter into 
the great unknown. At last Wang Dah Mah 
came to the rescue. 

"It is many months since we have made a pil- 
grimage to the Temple of the Dragon Pool," she 
suggested. "Perhaps the Goddess of Mercy is 
angry at us for so long neglecting her, and be- 
sides the priest in the temple may be able to com- 
fort us and tell us if we shall ever see our darling 
again." 



IN THE SPIDER'S DEN 39 

The thought of such an undertaking aroused 
the interest of the drooping lady. Sedan chairs 
were brought out and the bearers ordered to be in 
readiness. The chairs holding Wang Dah Mah, 
Lady Chang, and her two daughters, with those 
of the ladies in waiting, made quite a procession 
as they left the city gates and wound their way 
up the mountain side. The bamboo groves were 
still green and cast their feathery shadows over 
the path as they passed along. The birds in all 
the thickets and tangled grasses sang as lustily as 
though no storms could ever befall them, and gay 
lizards darted across the road. As they went 
higher and higher wonderful views of river and 
city spread like a map before their eyes ; the high 
wall, the red roof of the drum tower and gates, 
with the tiles of the houses and the tapering blue 
pagoda, made a scene full of color that delighted 
the spectators. The sun was very warm, and its 
kindly radiance also comforted the lady's heart. 
After a three hours' climb the bearers suddenly 
made a turn around the shoulder of the moun- 
tain, and there in a little hollow shaded by willow 
and bamboo trees lay the Temple of the Dragon 
Pool. 

The long rays of the afternoon sun touched 



40 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

one side of the pool, and in the other were re- 
flected the quivering leaves of the graceful trees 
and the curves of the temple roof. Here, surely, 
one could find peace ! 

Aware that some great personage approached, 
the attendants ran out of the temple and with 
many bows besought the ladies to ahght. Lady 
Chang sent the children with her ladies in wait- 
ing to sit beside the lake, while she and Wang 
Dah Mah proceeded to mount the steps of the 
shrine and talk to the priest. When she had 
entered the building, she turned to the priest and 
told him the story of Little Small-Feet's disap- 
pearance and death. 

"Tell me, I beseech you," she implored, "that 
in some other life I shall hold my precious one in 
my arms again." 

"That is a foolish and wicked wish," replied 
the priest. "You must not speak of her here or 
the gods will be angry and visit their wrath upon 
us. It will take many cash and much incense to 
purify the air after such words. Do you not 
understand that your little girl was not a child at 
all but a changeling or demon? If she had been 
human, she would never have disappeared in that 
way. The spirits, you say yourself, howled long 



IN THE SPIDER'S DEN 41 

with glee that she had joined them at last. It is a 
grievous sin even to think of her, and the only 
hope for you is to pray for a son and heir." Poor 
Lady Chang, she had come' for bread and had 
been given a stone ! How could she know that a 
messenger of Lord Chang had come by a nearer 
and shorter way to instruct the priest how to 
answer her? 

With a deep sigh the Lady mounted to the 
Goddess of Mercy's shrine and burned incense 
and paid for the necessary prayers to be said. 
She and Wang Dah Mah each took a vow never 
again to taste the flesh of any bird that had flown 
through the air, hoping that this self-sacrifice 
might perhaps guard the other children from 
evil, and so propitiate the goddess that she would 
give to the mother the great desire of her life, a 
little son. Then, weary and sad, she gave the 
word of command to return home. 

The day was waning fast, and the warm sun 
was setting, giving place to a cold wind from the 
mountain that struck chill to the bones, and 
moaned through the branches of the trees. The 
bearers quickened their pace and Lady Chang 
pulled down her blinds and, huddling back in 
her chair, gave way to her grief and desolation. 



42 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

Alter this journey, all hopes of seeing Little 
Small-Feet again were laid aside, and the old life 
that they had known before the child came was 
resumed. No stranger would have suspected any 
difference. The women dressed and ate, gossiped 
and embroidered, as formerly, but a close ob- 
server might have noticed that when the pagoda 
bells were silent, Lady Chang and Wang Dah 
Mah were restless and excited and could not bear 
the older children out of their sight for a minute, 
and could any have seen into their hearts, they 
would have beheld scars that no time or change 
could heal. 

Some six weeks passed uneventfully by, and 
then a strange thing happened which caused a 
slight ripple on the calm of the children's exist- 
ence. One day the two little girls were going 
through the streets with an attendant when a 
dirty, ragged child of about four or five slipped 
away from a band of beggars and ran after the 
party. 

"Save me! Save me! I am Little Small- 
Feet ! I have been stolen and they beat me !" she 
cried. 

They turned to see a grimy, dirty ragamuffin, 
clad in one thin garment, whose hollow eyes and 



IN THE SPIDER'S DEN 43 

scrawny hands no more resembled the Little 
Small-Feet they had known than the yellow cur 
at her heels looked like their well-cared-for 
Pekingese dog, and so they hurried away laugh- 
ing. The beggar child ran crying after, until 
some one of the band of women noticed her ab- 
sence and with a wild oath felled her to the 
ground and then, dragging her by the shoulder, 
pulled her down a narrow alley and disappeared. 

On the children's return to their home, the first 
person they saw was Lord Chang and with great 
excitement they told their story to him. To their 
surprise he was very angry and said that he 
would have all the beggars beaten and driven out 
of town ; he would not suffer his children to be in- 
sulted in such a manner. He warned them not 
to tell their mother what had happened for she 
would fret and that would make matters worse. 
The next day he went to the yamen and it was 
arranged that until further notice all beggars 
should be banished from the city. 

A few days later Lord Chang received the 
official advancement which he had long sought. 
This time, he decided, his family should accom- 
pany him, for as viceroy of a large province he 
wanted the prestige a wife and children would 



44 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

give him. Before the Chinese New Year was 
celebrated with firecrackers and bonfires, the 
Changs had left the halls of their fathers and had 
set sail for a new province. Lord Chang left his 
little desired daughter behind him without a 
qualm, but he was careful to see that his ancestral 
tablets were packed with proper reverence and 
accompanied him on his journey. 

Lady Chang was very sad as she stepped on 
board the stately junk that was to bear :them 
away and her eyes filled with tears as she looked 
her last on the city. When the sails were spread 
and the anchor shipped, and she felt the swift 
current against the bow, she gave one* glance at 
the muddy water, which she believed had swept 
away her darling and hurried to her cabin to 
weep, and the faithful Wang Dah Mah pushed 
back the other women when they would have 
crowded after, saying, "Leave our lady alone, 
for her heart must indeed eat bitterness to-night." 

Alas for Little Small-Feet! The weeks that 
had brought such a desirable change in the for- 
tunes of her father had brought a far different 
doom to her. Day after day of leaden misery 
dragged along until the child became almost 
stupid with fear and grief. The morning after 



IN THE SPIDER'S DEN 45 

the storm she had opened her eyes on a world 
which was a great contrast to anything she had 
ever known, and she began to scream with 
terror. But it did not take long for the girl to 
realize that if she wished to live at all, she must 
never make an outcry of any kind, for every sob 
was answered with a blow. Not long after sun- 
rise Old Scarred Face appeared, and of all her 
tormentors Little Small-Feet early learned to 
dread her the most. The preceding evening her 
gay little garments had been taken off and she 
had been clothed in a filthy apology for a coat, 
and in the morning the waif's disguise was 
rendered all the more complete by the woman's 
smearing her with mud from head to foot. 

After she had eaten rice from a broken bowl, 
Old Scarred Face took her by the hand and told 
the little one that she was to be taken back to her 
parents. Joyfully the child started out; her 
troubles were at an end at last. But after an 
hour's walk Little Small-Feet's hopes began to 
wane. Surely her home was not so many li away ! 
Her weary footsteps began to drag. This slow 
pace did not suit the woman and she would jerk 
the little one's hand and pull her along, unmerci- 
fully expecting the child to keep step with her 



46 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

long stride. At length in a dirty alley they 
stopped before the door of a stable. After look- 
ing anxiously around for a moment, to see that 
they were not observed, Old Scarred Face 
entered. On one side of the stable was a pile of 
straw; this the beggar woman pulled aside, re- 
vealing the entrance to a half -lighted passage- 
way. Having replaced the straw, the hag 
resumed her journey. 

"If you ever speak of this place to a living 
person, I will pull your eyes out from the sockets 
and drag your tongue out by the roots," she 
threatened. 

The weary journey was now at an end and 
they stood before the same iron door where the 
woman had waited on the preceding evening. 
Again the dwarf admitted her and they entered 
the presence of Creeping Sin. 

The little shrinking creature thought that she 
had hated Old Scarred Face, but when she saw 
the leering smile of Creeping Sin she hid her face 
in the woman's coat and refused to look up until 
the beggar had dragged her forward. 

Creeping Sin could not repress a chuckle to see 
the daughter of the haughty Chang in such dis- 
guise. "It's worth the whole ransom to see her 



IN THE SPIDER'S DEN 47 

thus," he said. "But now," turning to the beg- 
gar, "you may leave her clothes and go. When 
the moon comes to its first quarter, return, and I 
will tell you the result of my bargains. It will 
take at least that time to put them through." 

"Slowly, slowly speak! you take too much 
upon yourself. The clothes," and she touched a 
bundle under her arm as she spoke, "I pawn until 
they are needed; if the brat appears in them 
before your servants they will show at once who 
she is, for a full description is in the mouth of all 
on the street." 

"My servants are safe enough; not a single one 
but I have in my power and they know and are 
afraid. But as for the pawnbroker, he would sell 
his soul to the highest bidder. Give those clothes 
to me !" There was an almost mesmeric power in 
his eye that cowed the bold woman, the same 
power which the snake uses over the toad, so with 
only a moment's hesitation she laid the bundle on 
the table. 

All through this conversation. Little Small- 
Feet had cowered against the wall, watching with 
terrible fascination the scene before her. The 
dwarf, the witch, or Creeping Sin — it would be 
hard to say which terrified her the most. 



48 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

Old Scarred Face turned to go and taking the 
child by the shoulder, she gave her a shake, "Re- 
member always what I have told you; if you ever 
speak of this to a living person or breathe it to a 
dog, I will do as I said and pull your eyes out 
from their sockets and drag your tongue out by 
the roots." 

"And I," continued Creeping Sin as the door 
closed behind the woman, "will take your heart 
out and grind it to powder." Then turning to 
the dwarf, "Come, come, take the brat to Lui Sao 
Tze; she is expecting her." 

The thought of being touched by the dwarf 
was too much for the suffering little one, and she 
fell unconscious at their feet. 

When she finally came to herself the child 
thought for a happy moment that she had re- 
turned to her own home. The apartment was 
spacious and orderly, with all the marks that 
taste and wealth can give, and a woman whom 
she took for her amah was bathing her forehead. 
"O Wang Dah Mah!" she exclaimed; "I have 
had such a terrible dream!" 

"This is not a place where dreams are made, 
unless it be nightmares," answered the woman 
with a harsh laugh. 



IN THE SPIDER'S DEN 49 

"But where am I?" the child pleaded. 

"In the same pHght as the rest of us," the 
woman answered, "and we caU it the Spider's 
den." 

"Is the sly man the Spider?" asked Little 
Small-Feet eagerly, and the woman nodded 
assent, and told her to be careful for the walls 
had ears. The child was puzzled by this, but if it 
had anything to do with the man she had seen, 
she felt that the quieter she kept the better. 

The days that followed were not so hard for 
Little Small-Feet. It is true, she longed for 
Wang Dah Mah's loving arms and quaint 
stories, and would cry herself to sleep each night 
because she felt so strange. But the woman was 
not unkind ; the child had the clothes and food to 
which she was accustomed ; and life did not seem 
very different from the home from which she had 
wandered. Creeping Sin was busy with more 
engrossing matters and had no time for one little 
stray more or less. Once he met her in the court- 
yard and watched her with a crafty smile, be- 
cause, on seeing him, she screamed and tried to 
run away. 

"You'll never forget me, will you, little 
Pearl?" he asked. 



50 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

"No, I think not," faltered the child. The 
words must have been prophetic, for as long as 
Little Small-Feet lived, she remembered that 
scene and the horror she felt of this wicked man. 
As years went by and her early home became a 
dim memory, the names of her parents were lost, 
and even the blue pagoda was surrounded by a 
haze, but Creeping Sin and his malignant face 
haunted her forever. 

One beautiful autumn evening, the dwarf ap- 
peared at the door of the apartment where Little 
Small-Feet was and told her attendant that he 
was sent to take the child to his master. 

With a cry the little one threw herself at the 
woman's feet and asked her to come too; she 
could not go alone for she knew that he would 
kill her. It was all in vain; the woman simply 
dared not intrude on her master without being 
summoned and the child was forced to follow her 
uncouth guide. 

In the same room where she had first beheld 
Creeping Sin, she found him and her other tor- 
mentor. Old Scarred Face. They were both 
flushed and angry, and the hostile glances they 
cast upon the terrified waif would have fright- 
ened a much older person. 



IN THE SPIDER'S DEN 51 

"True to his reputation," said Creeping Sin, 
"the man has refused to listen to a word. He 
said that not a single cash would he pay. He 
never wanted another girl and this would save 
him the expense of rearing her, but if ever he met 
with those who stole his daughter, they would 
hang as high as the city gate. The whole thing 
had cost him all the time and trouble he was 
going to spend." 

"But what are we to do with the brat?" asked 
old Scarred Face. 

"Oh, she's your 'thousand ounces of gold.' 
You found her; you can keep her. If she were 
older I might help you, for she has possibilities — 
look at her hands and feet. But there are too 
many years ahead. As for the man, her father, 
we'll not forget what we owe him. Now you can 
go ; I have wasted enough time over an unprofit- 
able business." 

Old Scarred Face was in two minds about a 
fit of passion, but feeling that it would avail her 
nothing, she caught at Little Small-Feet's hand 
and dragged her from the presence of Creeping 
Sin. 

Then began a dreadful time for the delicately 
reared child; how she survived it for even one 



52 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

month will never be known. Who can describe 
Little Small-Feet's agony of mind when she fol- 
lowed her sisters one day and they failed to 
recognize her; or her horror when the order was 
given for the beggars to leave the city and she 
knew that she was leaving all hope behind when 
she cast her last look on her old friend, the blue 
pagoda? Perhaps the waif did not realize it, for 
she was barely five, and who can know the 
thoughts of a young child's heart? 

Thus Little Small-Feet's life of wandering 
began; she was taken from city to city, through 
winter's cold and summer's heat, through deep 
mountain passes where wild beasts lurked, and in 
the huge cities on the plain where the human 
beasts are yet more savage. Always famished, 
ill-treated, and half -clad, she forgot her past and 
could look forward to no future, for each moment 
was one of grinding poverty that cut off all 
horizons. She was dead to the sufferings of the 
many children about her because all thought for 
any but herself had been taken from her. 

From thousands of childhoods such as hers, 
men turn away their heads because they do not 
choose to see; but wilt not thou be pitiful, O 
God? 



CHAPTER IV 

THE CITY THAT LIES IN THE SHADOW OF 
PURPLE MOUNTAIN 

There when the dim blue daylight lingers 

Listening, and the West grows holy. 
Singers crouch with long white fingers 

Floating over the zithern slowly : 
Paper lamps with a peachy bloom 

Burn above on the dim blue bough. 
While the zitherns gild the gloom 

With curious music ! I hear it now ! 

— Alfred Noyes. 

GENTLE Spring was again abroad on the 
road, traveling northward accompanied by 
her usual bodyguard of wayward breezes. Not 
long had she been at work, but traces of her 
magic could be seen in tiny leaf buds and in the 
shimmer of green in the grasses of the hollows. 
The frogs in the ponds knew it, and were croak- 
ing lustily under the impression they were sing- 
ing oratorios, while the birds were warbling in 
the tangled coppice. There was no doubt about 
it, hope was in the air! 

Many li to the north of the City of the Blue 

53 



54 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

Pagoda is situated the City That Lies in the 
Shadow of Purple Mountain. Very famous is 
this place and full of historic ruins; rebellions 
and revolutions have swept over it; dynasties 
have ruled and declined, until now its ancient 
grandeur has fallen to decay. 

This March evening the setting sun had cast a 
glorious garment of lavender and gold over the 
city, as if to cover with an emperor's cloak 
the signs of destruction and the marks of time. 
Soft, pink clouds still lingered around the sum- 
mit of Purple Mountain as if loath to say good 
night, and the winds that arise at twilight had 
begun to whisper in the trees. The City That 
Lies in the Shadow of Purple Mountain was 
sprawled, like a huge dragon, on the plain below, 
A few scattered huts reached almost to the 
mountain's foot, while the suburbs extended out- 
side the wall with more or less density of popula- 
tion to the banks of the mighty, hurrying river 
ten miles distant. The streets hummed with the 
usual noise of hawkers calling their wares, dogs 
barking, women screaming to their neighbors, 
and coolies uttering the peculiar singsong 
whereby they seek to make their burdens lighter ; 
because the sun was setting with unusual 



THE CITY IN THE SHADOW 55 

splendor was no reason why they should lay 
down their tasks ; the hush of nature was nothing 
to them! 

A little to one side, where the population was 
less congested and there was room for breathing 
space, arose the gray walls of the foreign hos- 
pital, shaded by trees and surrounded by the 
restful green of lawns and the gay colors of yel- 
low daffodils and crocuses. The people of the 
city held this place in awe, for there were many 
dark rumors of what went on within its walls. 
Stories were circulated of babies ground to 
powder and of horrid rites and sorceries, and as 
they spread, the wonder of them grew and also 
the terror of the hospital. 

In the window of a ward stood a young woman 
in nurse's uniform, whose sad eyes were fixed on 
the fading glory which brought back happy 
memories of her far-away country. 

*'If it were not for Purple Mountain and these 
evening lights I do not believe that I could stand 
the sordidness and misery," she thought. "I 
would just have to leave it and sail for home." 

She watched the bright glow fade and the 
recesses fill with the purple shadows for which 
the mountain was named, and then greatly 



56 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

heartened and with her usual shining look she 
returned to her interrupted duties. 

Beautiful as it appeared in the evening light, 
all was not well on Purple Mountain. If the 
recesses and caves could have spoken, they might 
have told many a tale of crime and horror 
scarcely fit for gentle ears, for in one of the very 
crevices that the nurse had watched was settled a 
human brood whose existence was scarcely higher 
than that of the pariah dogs that roamed the 
streets stealing and quarrehng. These people 
are the "beggars" who belong to a close frater- 
nity; the house dogs are taught to bark at them 
and drive them from the door; the charitable 
drop an occasional cash into their outstretched 
bowls, and by these means and by petty thieving 
they subsist — unless, like Old Scarred Face, they 
have a head for schemes and plots and can thus 
make a more profitable livehhood. Their dwell- 
ing place in this instance was a cave formed by a 
cleft in the rocks, the only light being that af- 
forded by a smoldering fire of reeds over which 
some primitive cooking was done. The air was 
thick with smoke and heavy with vile odors, while 
the language of the men and women was dread- 
ful to hear. 



THE CITY IN THE SHADOW 57 

On a heap of dirty straw in one corner lay a 
child evidently in pain, for every now and then 
she uttered a low moan. She was a mass of rags 
and filth; her unkempt hair had apparently 
never known a comb; the only feature that 
showed through the grime was a pair of dark 
eyes, bright with fever. 

Squatted on the floor near her were two 
crones, who might have sat for portraits of the 
Fates and Furies: their scant hair stood out in 
wisps; almost all of their teeth were gone and 
their red gums had a horrid, bestial look; their 
thin hands were hke the claws of birds; their 
padded garments were so tattered that it seemed 
a marvel that they did not fall from their bony 
shoulders. 

Absolutely regardless of the child that lay so 
near, they coolly discussed her fate. The older 
woman, whose face was marked by smallpox, 
was speaking. 

"You talk foolishly. It is useless to feed the 
brat longer. Now that her leg is so bad that she 
cannot go out with me and beg, she is not worth a 
string of cash. Little did I think, when I took 
her from the noble family that lives to the south, 
that they possessed so many daughters that they 



58 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

would not feel it worth while to pay me a ransom. 
She was handsomely dressed, too, but the rascally 
pawnbroker gave me a mere song for her clothes, 
and I did not dare demand more for fear that he 
would squeal. When I burned her leg and 
rubbed dirt into it, I thought that I had done a 
clever trick for I told people that she had been 
bitten by a serpent and they paid to see the sore, 
so it worked well for a season. But the child is 
no use this way. If the gods will that she should 
die I will not burn incense to keep her ahve," and 
she cackled harshly at the joke. 

"Why don't you take her down to the foreign 
hospital?" suggested the other woman, in whom 
there was a little spark of humanity left. "They 
would take her in and make her well to boot. 
You know, Old Scarred Face, they would not 
charge anything." 

"Yes, and a pretty story she would tell of the 
way she has been treated ! Those foreigners are 
silly about children and make a horrid fuss when 
they think the 'torments' have been abused. She 
is not worth the trouble and has cost me far too 
much already." 

The two women moved away to get their share 
of rice, leaving poor Little Small-Feet — for alas ! 



THE CITY IN THE SHADOW 59 

this is what she had come to — shivering and 
terror-stricken in the corner. Did ever the little 
breezes play a sorrier trick than on the day they 
tempted Little Small-Feet to visit the blue 
pagoda? 

As she lay on the floor, the waif could have 
screamed at the thought of being left to starve, 
but knowing that her cries would mean a beating 
she only lay and moaned. 

In a few minutes the kindlier of the two women 
came and held a bowl of weak tea to the child's 
lips and slipped into the feverish fingers a small 
portion of bread. It was the first food Little 
Small-Feet had tasted that day and she gulped it 
down eagerly. She knew however, that this 
relief was only temporary, for the woman was 
starting south in the morning and then what her 
fate would be, she hardly dared think. 

Over three years had passed since Little 
Small-Feet had been stolen — ^years that are bet- 
ter forgotten. The scars of stripes on her back 
and the hunted look in her eyes alone would tell 
a story, and now at length the end had come to 
this miserable existence, or so it seemed to her. 
Still the words that she had heard rang in her 
ears. Could it be possible that at the hospital 



60 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

she might find a refuge? It would not be worse 
than dying here of starvation. She remembered 
the hospital and where it stood; many times she 
had passed it. How could she ever reach the 
place when it lay so far away? Then she thought 
of the pilgrims she had seen crawling on their 
sides to holy shrines, in order to acquire merit. 
Surely she could do as much to save her life! 
The beggars by this time were fast asleep ; now 
was her chance; she must get away from the path 
that led to the cave before dawn, if she did not 
want to be brought back and certainly killed. 

So once again Little Small-Feet decided to 
run away, but this time there was no glee or joy 
in her heart, only a bitter, bitter fear. With the 
strength of desperation she crept out of the stuffy 
cavern, and as the cool night breezes blew across 
her face, her courage strengthened. Surely the 
little breezes could not recognize their one-time 
playmate in such a guise, yet they did her a 
friendly deed to keep her company to-night. 
Like a great human caterpillar she edged her 
way along the stony path ; brambles caught at her 
face and tore her hair like tiny elfin hands hold- 
ing her back; toads and insects slipped between 
her fingers; and once a snake glided out from 



THE CITY IN THE SHADOW 61 

under a stone into the brush on the other side of 
the road. 

Frightened as she was of all these creatures, 
they were not half so terrible as the human crea- 
tures she had left behind, so she crept steadily on, 
and as the first faint streak of dawn brightened 
the eastern sky and flushed the sides of Purple 
Mountain, she turned into a side road far enough 
away from the cavern to escape the fear of 
detection. Nevertheless each moment seemed 
fraught with some terror ; sometimes it would be 
the sight of a beggar in the distance, when she 
would lie on her face or crawl under the shadow 
of a wall ; again some fierce dog or half -wild pig 
would come up and menace her with its sharp 
teeth. The passers-by paid little heed to the 
wanderer; they were accustomed to the sight of 
misery and one child more or less did not count. 

When the afternoon was waning. Little Small- 
Feet was still a long distance from her destina- 
tion and her strength was failing so fast that she 
began to despair of reaching the hospital that 
night. In that case she felt that she would never 
live until the morning, for the dogs and pigs 
would be bolder at night, as they were fierce with 
hunger. 



62 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

At last, with courage utterly gone, she began 
to cry and a passing countryman heard the 
sound coming from what he at first supposed to 
be a bundle of rags. He had plenty of time, so 
he stopped his creaking wheelbarrow and stooped 
over the httle refugee. 

"What is the matter here?" he asked in a 
friendly voice. "We do not need your tears to 
water the ground ; we have moisture enough with- 
out that as the gods of the floods will tell you." 
For a moment he received no answer, but after a 
short coaxing Little Small-Feet explained her 
trouble. Perhaps the rough farmer had a 
daughter at home, for he told the weeping child 
to cease crying and as he happened to be going 
in the direction of the city he would take her as a 
passenger. 

The clumsy wheelbarrow was no swift-moving 
ambulance, and every turn of the wheel was 
torture to the injured child, but Little Small- 
Feet bore it with the stoicism learned from hard 
usage. The thought that she would certainly 
reach the hospital before dark had completely 
restored her courage. 

"I must leave you here," the countryman an- 
nounced when they had come within a few doors 



THE CITY IN THE SHADOW 63 

of their destination. "It is all very well for you 
to risk having the foreigners cast the evil eye 
upon you. You have nothing to lose, but with 
me it is different. I have a pig and some chick- 
ens, and I could not afford to have them die," and 
he hurried away for fear he might meet the out- 
landish strangers. 

The waif crawled painfully to the hospital 
gate and settled herself on the threshold, for she 
had no strength to knock. She was haunted 
indeed by the dread that her painful journey 
might be in vain and that she might be refused 
admission. 

Fortunately Little Small-Feet had not long 
to wait, for soon she heard a voice talking in 
unfamiliar accent on the other side of the 
gate; the hinges creaked and a tall form almost 
trod on her as she lay. There was an ex- 
clamation of surprise and then she was gently 
lifted and carried up the garden walk to the 
hospital. For the first time in three bitter years 
Little Small-Feet felt a touch that was not 
hostile, and instinctively she knew that she was 
safe. 

On entering the hospital they turned immedi- 
ately into the reception room and she heard her 



64 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

new-found friend say words that sounded beauti- 
ful to her ears. 

"Well, Miss Faith, here is another little waif 
for you to mother." 

Then at last Little Small-Feet dared to open 
her eyes and she looked up into the very kindest, 
sweetest face she had ever seen. The light, curly 
hair, eyes the color of the skies, and aquiline nose, 
looked very odd and outlandish, and the little one 
wondered why she was not afraid, but instead she 
relaxed into the arms outstretched to take her 
with a sigh of deep content. 

With never a doubt or shrinking the nurse held 
her burden, but tears sprang to her eyes and ran 
unheeded down her face as she noticed the sign 
of abuse and neglect so plainly visible; she 
wondered how many more such children wan- 
dered the streets of the city. 

The doctor, having put his charge in the proper 
care, delayed long enough to ask her name. 

"My name is Little Small-Feet," the child 
answered wearily. 

"That is a very honorable name," he replied, 
"but you must have another; try to think!" 

"Nothing else, only Little Small-Feet," she 
answered. 



THE CITY IN THE SHADOW 65 

"But your parents — what are they called?" 

"I suppose I had a father and mother — indeed 
Old Scarred Face told the other woman so — but 
they did not want me; I was only a girl, you 
know, and I lost them so long ago that I do not 
remember." 

Seeing that the matter was hopeless, the doctor 
dropped it for a season and started on his rounds. 
Little Small-Feet then underwent an experience 
that terrified her more than all the ill-usage she 
had ever had, for she did not know what it meant ; 
and she wondered if, after all, it might not be 
preliminary to being ground to powder. Her 
clothes were taken away from her and she was 
given a bath. It was a long and thorough 
process, and through it all Little Small-Feet 
gave vent to the screams and cries that had been 
pent up in her small body through years of mis- 
use. When it was finally over and she was laid 
in a clean bed, nurse and patient were both ex- 
hausted, and Little Small-Feet fell immediately 
into a restful sleep. 

Gentle Spring arose with the sun the next 
morning, and gave direction to her friends that 
of all of the days of the year this was to be the 
sweetest, for a tired child had found shelter. So 



66 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

when Little Small-Feet opened her eyes, a soft 
breeze was wandering in and out of the window 
by her cot, waiting to speed and tell the others 
that the child was awake and they must be on the 
alert. Then he flew to a bed of violets, and gath- 
ering an armful of fragrance, he hurried back 
through the window, only stopping long enough 
in the shrubbery to warn the birds that now they 
must sing as they had never sung in all their life 
before. The song of the birds, the fragrance of 
the violets, and the soft comfort of her bed quite 
bewildered Little Small-Feet, for the moment. 
What was the strange room with its windows and 
doors, and its rows of beds, and how had she come 
here? Then suddenly the recollection of yester- 
day and her flight came over her; this was the 
hospital, and all this foreign sorcery. Had they 
changed her, too, she wondered, into the likeness 
of a fox or some other animal? The waif held up 
her bony hand; no, it looked the same as ever, 
only infinitely cleaner ! 

As far as that was concerned everything was 
clean ; the floors, the walls, the beds all seemed to 
gleam. She had never known anything like it, 
but how comfortable it was ! Would Old Scarred 
Face dare look for her here? At the thought the 



THE CITY IN THE SHADOW 67 

child hid herself beneath -the covers. But soon 
she heard a footstep and peeped out to see stand- 
ing before her the new-found friend holding a 
steaming bowl of soup. The light in the strang- 
er's eyes, the tender smile on her lips, and the 
cadence of her low voice must have been some 
strange magic, for at that moment she stole the 
heart of Little Small-Feet. There were many 
painful dressings to undergo, but she bore them 
much better than she did the surprising bath. As 
hour followed hour and she lay quite still, her 
face was always turned toward the door through 
which the nurse entered. When the child saw 
that her friend was coming at last, her whole 
expression would change and it would be hard 
to recognize her as the same dull little figure 
that was found on the doorstep that March 
evening. So the nurse would linger by the bed, 
telling stories of her home across the sea and all 
sorts of facts and fancies, just for the sake of 
seeing the smile that chased away the shadow 
from the little one's face. 

"Your name may be Miss Faith, but I call you 
my Great Helpful Lady!" said Little Small- 
Feet one day as she patted her friend's hands 
with those long, slender fingers that seemed to 



68 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

prove her gentle birth. From that moment the 
child refused to use any other name. 

Time flew fast in the hospital that spring ; the 
cheer that came from the merry song of the birds 
in the compound trees seemed to be reflected in 
all the wards, and there was no sunnier, happier 
place to be found than around Little Small- 
Feet's bed. At first her language was dreadfully 
coarse, and her manners and habits appalling, 
but as she associated more and more with the 
Great Helpful Lady, these coarse ways grad- 
ually dropped away, and in this more refined 
atmosphere she returned unconsciously to the 
courteous customs she had learned in her own 
home. 

A morning came at length when she was 
wrapped in a warm rug and carried out into 
the garden. May was in the air and all the 
paths were gay with flowers. Little Small-Feet 
clapped her hands with joy at the riot of color 
and settled herself back with a sigh of content in 
the comfortable chair. 

"O Little Small-Feet, I forgot the very nicest 
thing of all," explained her friend and hurried 
away to return in a minute with a knobby bundle 
in her hands. She gave it to the child saying, 



THE CITY IN THE SHADOW 



"This came all the way from 'the City by the 
Sea' particularly for you." 

With eager, trembling fingers Little Small- 
Feet undid the strings and before her bewildered 
eyes appeared a lovely little foreign doll. She 
gave a cry of joy and hugged it close, and* then 
turned to her friend such a look of adoring hom- 
age, that the giver could scarcely refrain from 
tears; but she laughed instead and said: "This 
baby will bear you company when I am away 
from you, won't she? Now I must run away to 
my other children." 

When the Great Helpful Lady returned an 
hour or two later, the child was so absorbed that 
she did not hear her step on the soft turf. The 
new doll was clasped tightly in its mother's arms 
and she was gently croning over it these words : 



**The small-footed girl 

With the sweet little smile. 
She loves to eat sugar 

And sweets all the while. 
Her money's all gone 

And because she can't buy. 
She holds her small feet 

While she sits down to cry." 



"Why, Little Small-Feet," the lady exclaimed. 



70 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

"what a charming lullaby and all about yourself, 
too! Where did you ever learn it?" 

Little Small-Feet looked up startled. "I don't 
know because just as I seem going to remember 
I suddenly forget, but I think her name was 
Wang Dah Mah." 

"And who was Wang Dah Mah? Try hard 
to remember; it might help us to find your 
friends. Where did you see her and how long 
ago?" 

"O my Great Helpful Lady, I cannot think! 
I have seen so many people and been in so many 
places, and the only faces I seem to remember 
are Old Scarred Face and Creeping Sin." As 
soon as she had mentioned these two names a 
great terror overcame the child; she began to 
weep and turned deadly pale, casting frightened 
glances behind her, as if half expecting to see her 
two enemies hovering near. 

"O my Great Helpful Lady, do not let us 
speak of them, for I know they will kill me if 
they ever find out that I have told their names !" 

Little Small-Feet seemed so overcome that the 
nurse felt it better to change the subject for 
the present. It was only bit by bit, when she 
held the child in her arms and the little one's arms 



THE CITY IN THE SHADOW 71 

were around her neck, and her mouth close up 
to the nurse's ear, that Little Small-Feet con- 
fided the story of her terrible wanderings. Very 
often the Great Helpful Lady lay awake until 
the small hours of the morning, her heart so 
oppressed with the stories she had heard that 
sleep refused to come. 

No clue, however, was found to Little Small- 
Feet's family or the city from which she had 
roamed. The stay in the Spider's den had wiped 
out all recollection of what went before except 
such little things as the lullaby and Wang Dah 
Mah's name, which proved in the end no clue 
at all. 

As the weeks went by the Great Helpful Lady 
grew more and more desirous of adopting the 
waif, but the hospital authorities felt that this 
would be unwise, for if it should get noised 
abroad that a beggar child had been adopted, the 
hospital would be overwhelmed with foundlings 
left by thousands of poor people, and there was 
neither funds nor space to keep such a number. 

The nurse comforted herself, however, with the 
thought that she would find some kind native 
family and arrange with the family to care for 
the child. 



72 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

Alas, for plans and dreams! Before Little 
Small-Feet was well enough to be moved from 
the hospital, the steaming months of July and 
August fell upon the city, and the Great Help- 
ful Lady came down with malaria that always 
stalks the summer streets, and immediately she 
was ordered away to the mountains to save her 
life. Even in her fever the lady did not forget 
her favorite, and left many directions about her. 
But the hospital was short-handed during the hot 
season, and the staff terribly overworked, and in 
this condition Little Small-Feet's interests were 
overlooked. No one could tell exactly how it 
happened, but when the Great Helpful Lady 
returned in the autumn, she found that Little 
Small-Feet had been dismissed, leaving no trace 
behind. 

The Great Helpful Lady was inconsolable ; she 
instituted inquiries in every direction and when- 
ever she went outside her gate she examined each 
child she met in the hope that it might prove to be 
her little friend. In her long walks she had the 
girl constantly on her mind, and twice she went as 
far as Purple Mountain and as she climbed its 
steep sides she marveled at the courage of the 
wanderer who had dared to crawl over such steep 



THE CITY IN THE SHADOW 73 

places with her wounded leg; and ever as she 
walked she called, "Little Small-Feet, Little 
Small-Feet !" But the reverberating echoes only- 
mocked her, and wearied and disheartened she 
was forced to retrace her steps alone. 



CHAPTER V 

WHEN VIOLETS CAME AGAIN 

Hold by right and rule by fear 
Till the slowly broadening sphere 
Melting through the skies above 
Merge into the sphere of love. 

— Alfred Noyes. 

MONTH followed month and the dreary, 
dark days of winter cast their gloom over 
the City That Lies in the Shadow of Purple 
Mountain. The rich put padded garment over 
padded garment and added a fur-lined coat 
thereto, thus challenging the cold to do its worst, 
and adding much to their girth and the impor- 
tance with which they were regarded. The poor 
shivered in their rags and perished with want on 
the street corners and in their miserable huts, 
while the life of the city flowed relentlessly by 
them. At the hospital nothing was heard about 
Little Small-Feet; she had disappeared as com- 
pletely as a pebble thrown into a pond. Only the 
winds moaning down the mountain side could 
have told of her whereabouts and their sharp 

74. 



WHEN VIOLETS CAME AGAIN 75 

tongues were too busy about other matters to 
give time to wandering beggar children. But the 
Great Helpful Lady often stopped in the midst 
of her duties to wipe away a tear at the thought 
of her favorite straying homeless in the bitter 
weather. 

Winter winds gave way at length to softer 
breezes and spring brought hope and warmth to 
the shivering city. On one of these bright morn- 
ings the Great Helpful Lady was standing at the 
gatehouse talking with some friends. Suddenly 
she heard a cry and saw a pathetic bundle of rags 
come limping toward her ; as she reached the lady 
the little girl stumbled and fell headlong; some 
instinct told the nurse who it was and she ran for- 
ward with an exclamation of pity. The child did 
not attempt to rise but lay there hugging her 
f riejnd's feet, and the lady, stooping, gathered her 
up in her arms regardless of grime and dirt, 
fondling and crying over her, while Little Small- 
Feet kept repeating, "My Great Helpful Lady! 
My Great Helpful Lady!" 

Could there be any doubt of the wanderer's fate 
after such a scene? The bystanders thought not 
and at once decided that by right of conquest the 
wayfarer belonged to the lady. This time the nee- 



76 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

' ,1 

essary bath was welcomed with glee, but it proved 
an even longer process than the famous first at- 
tempt, because Little Small-Feet interrupted it 
so often to stroke the hand that held the sponge. 

Little Small-Feet's terror of Old Scarred Face 
had grown and trebled in the past few months, 
and it was with much difficulty that she was 
coaxed to tell her story. The lady gathered that 
the beggar was lying in wait for the child when 
she was dismissed from the hospital, and immedi- 
ately seized her and stripped off her clothes, and 
nearly naked, the poor little victim had been 
forced to return to the old life of terror. Old 
Scarred Face had again burned the waif's leg, 
and she had been kept a prisoner in the cave, but 
one day when she had been left alone by mistake. 
Little Small-Feet escaped and dragged her way 
back to her protectress. 

"Do you know, my lady, one day before the 
winter fell, I was in the cave and I thought I 
heard your voice calling me, 'Little Small-Feet, 
Little Small-Feet,' and I ran to the mouth of the 
cave and tried to answer, but Old Scarred Face 
knocked me down and said that should you come 
for me, all the beggars would kill you, so I did 
not dare to answer again." 



WHEN VIOLETS CAME AGAIN 77 

"Yes, it was I, Little Small-Feet, out on the 
mountain calling for you," said the lady. 

"I am so glad that you did not forget me, but 
I wish Old Scarred Face would; I am afraid she 
never will. I think Creeping Sin is here, too, for 
one of the children told me that he and the woman 
met in the city, and I think he is worse than Old 
Scarred Face." 

A beautiful new day now dawned for Little 
Small-Feet. To be surrounded by love, to be 
assured that she would never again be parted 
from her friend — these things conspired to bring 
the light back into her face. The only cloud, and 
that indeed heavy, was the thought of Old 
Scarred Face hovering like some bird of prey 
ready to pounce, if for a minute Little Small- 
Feet should be found alone. It wrought such 
terror in her childish mind that often in the night 
she would awaken with a scream. Then her 
friend would hurry to her side with a light in her 
hand, and the patients in the ward would bless 
the shadow as she passed of this second "lady of 
the lamp." 

When the sun peeped in through the window, 
all Little Small-Feet's terror would fly away and 
her merry laugh would ring out through the 



78 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

corridors, the fears that lurked in the darkness 
quite forgotten. She constituted herself the 
tutor of the other little children in the ward, 
and there was nothing she liked better than to 
lead the tots by the hand through the hospital 
and explain to them the queer ways of the 
strangers from beyond the seas. One lovely 
afternoon, Little Small-Feet was seen guiding 
a small cripple carefully down the ward, and 
in their progress they paused for a brief 
moment below a print of Christ blessing the 
children. 

"And who is this 'heaven-born man'?" the lame 
boy asked in an awed whisper, pointing upward 
to the picture. 

"I do not know very much about him yet, for I 
am very stupid," hesitated the girl, "but he is a 
friend of my Great Helpful Lady, because she 
told me so, and you can see that he must be, for 
he holds the little ones in his arms with a great 
love in his face, just the way my lady does the 
hospital babies." Then perfectly satisfied they 
resumed their halting journey. 

That evening when the nurse went to bid Little 
Small-Feet good-night she found her weeping 
grievously. 



WHEN VIOLETS CAME AGAIN 79 

"Why, Little Small-Feet, what in the world is 
the matter?" inquired her friend in some alarm. 

"O my Great Helpful Lady, I am eating bit- 
terness and my heart is not at rest because of all 
of the little children out in the streets with no one 
to care for them. When I was with them I did 
not know children ever were happy, and I was so 
miserable myself that I did not care. But now 
sometimes when I am at play and think of those 
children, I feel that I can never smile again." 

"Ah, Little Small-Feet, we need your smile 
here of all places ; it is your part to make the sad 
people gay. Perhaps some day you will tell me 
more about the children and we can think of a 
way to help them." 

"Well, I have thought of one thing but it 
sounds foolish for a little girl; I should like to 
study very, very hard and learn to be a doctor; 
then perhaps I could make people well the way 
you do. I could go out in the streets and look 
for beggar children, for I know all their haunts, 
and I could make them well and happy, too." 

"Why, what a nice idea!" exclaimed her friend, 
"I will certainly try to help you by seeing that 
you have the best education a woman can receive. 
You shall study in my own country and after- 



80 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

wards you can come back and we will work to- 
gether." Then she laughed: "What castles in 
the air we have been building when you should 
have been asleep. There are many streams to 
cross and oceans, too, before they can come true. 
But the only way to make dreams really happen 
is to be willing to sacrifice everything for them, 
our pleasures, our time, and our comfort. So 
good-night, little schemer, and in the morning we 
will see what we can do." 

Early next day when the nurse stopped for 
a moment before an open window, and was drink- 
ing in the scent of the lilacs, she heard Little 
Small-Feet's voice and, turning suddenly, found 
the child making deep ceremonial bows before 
her — ^the bows that Old Wang Dah Mah had 
taught her in those happy days so long forgotten. 

"Well, dear little Peach Blossom," said her 
friend, "what is it now?" 

"O gracious lady, may I go to school and learn 
to read? Pao Tse^ is much smaller than I and 
she can recognize many characters, and she 
knows the 'Girl's Classic' by heart, and Tien Sih^ 



^ Pao Tse means Precious Thing. Tien Sih should be 
translated Heavenly Piety, though in this case. Earthly 
Mischief would have been far more appropriate. 



WHEN VIOLETS CAME AGAIN 81 

too has learned the 'Rules for the Behavior of 
Children,' and I can repeat them from hearing 
him say them so many times. You know, he is 
really very dull and it takes a long time to learn 
things" — and in a laughable imitation of Tien 
Sih's singsong, Little Small-Feet recited, 

"Awake with the morning, arise with the sun, 
Retire late at night when your lessons are done. 
Remember that age will come easily on. 
Utilize youth, it will quickly be gone." 

"Well, small pleader, are there any more argu- 
ments?" asked her friend, smiling down into the 
eager, upturned face. 

"Yes, yes. You remember about little Che 
Wu who lived hundreds of years ago? He was 
so eager to read that he learned by the pale 
moonlight reflected from the snow." 

"There is no danger of Tien Sih's ruining his 
eyes in that manner at any rate," laughed the 
lady. "As for you I am glad that you want to 
learn, and I will teach you myself every day, for 
it is too late to begin school this year, as it will 
soon close for the summer, but when we are away 
in the mountains we ought to accomphsh a great 
deal.'^ 

Little Small-Feet had never heard more de- 



82 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

lightful news, and she fairly danced with glee. 
The thought of being taught by her lady and that 
they were to go together to the mountains, was 
almost too much joy; it went to her head like 
wine, and she went to find some one to share in 
the good news. 

As she ran out into the garden on whom should 
her eyes rest but Tien Sih, playing some fascinat- 
ing game with ball and string. ''O Tien Sih, 
Tien Sih," she called, "guess what beautiful 
thing is to happen?" 

Tien Sih, though wild to know, assumed after 
the manner of his sex manly indifference. Alas, 
why do such tactics always prove successful? 

"I am going to school and to the mountains 
with my gracious Helpful Lady," Little Small- 
Feet continued, longing for sympathy. 

Instead of the sympathy she expected, a wave 
of jealousy struck like a dart through Tien Sih's 
masculine soul; no one had urged him to accom- 
pany them to the mountains; in fact the urging 
would have been all the other way. 

^'What's the use of going to school, when you 
are too big a coward to go to Sunday school 
with me?" 

"You know I've been forbidden to go outside 



WHEN VIOLETS CAME AGAIN 83 

the compound without a grown-up person, and 
if you had ever seen Old Scarred Face you would 
be afraid, too." 

"I am afraid of nothing, for I'm a man. I 
could kill a tiger or a wolf as easy — but you are 
a coward and a beggar, and you can never go to 
school without leaving the compound, so that is 
settled." 

Little Small-Feet had plenty of temper of a 
very spicy brand, and to be called a beggar and a 
coward was adding insult to insult. In her 
wanderings she had learned to fight for her own 
protection and her companions had a decided 
respect for her prowess. She sprang at Tien Sih, 
who was not expecting such an onslaught, and 
never in his life before had the boy been so thor- 
oughly punished. The little girl used all the ap- 
proved methods of beggardom, tooth, nails, and 
feet, and Tien Sih soon fled before the tempest. 

"You're afraid all the same, and a horrid beg- 
gar as well!" he called after her and hurried off 
to tell his father that Little Small-Feet was not 
a fit playmate for decent, well-brought-up boys 
like himself, of good family, too, whose father 
was cook of a prominent hospital and making 
such a fortune out of it. 



84 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

Tien Sih's father told him plainly to hold his 
tongue about the fortune. "Think twice and say 
nothing," would be a fitting motto for him here- 
after. However, the man was indignant that a 
beggar brat should have had the effrontery to 
treat any child of his with such indignity, and he 
started immediately for headquarters with his 
complaint. 

Poor Little Small-Feet, brought up by an 
amah and then by Old Scarred Face, knew no 
resource in such a crisis but to make up a story. 
Alas, it did not hold water! There were too 
many witnesses, and so she stood convicted. Her 
Great Helpful Lady looked and talked in such a 
sorrowful manner that Little Small-Feet's heart 
was nearly broken and this taught her more than 
many punishments the necessity of truthfulness 
if she wished to please her friend. 

The children, however, had not confessed to the 
cause of the quarrel and so the next Sunday when 
Tien Sih said, "If you are really sorry for fight- 
ing me you will go with me to Sunday school," 
Little Small-Feet decided that this was the only 
way to show her deep repentance, and consented 
to go. They watched until they saw the gate- 
keeper walk to the hospital on an errand, then 



WHEN VIOLETS CAME AGAIN 85 

they slipped out of the gate and started with 
stout hearts down the lane. They made their 
first turn safely and were happily engaged in 
talking about what they were about to see when 
a skinny arm, extended from behind a stone wall, 
clutched the all-unsuspecting Tien Sih by the 
queue. Very much astonished they turned to see 
before them a horrid-looking beggar woman, 
mouthing at them in triumph. Little Small- 
Feet's first instinct was to run, but she could not 
leave Tien Sih in Old Scarred Face's clutches, so 
made bold by fear, she flew at the woman scream- 
ing desperately for aid. 

Help was not far away, for the hospital doctor 
had seen the children disappear through the gate- 
way and had hurriedly followed them, and when 
Old Scarred Face heard footsteps behind her, she 
quickly fled. 

This incident proved only too clearly Old 
Scarred Face's malice and from that day for- 
ward none of the children dared to venture out 
alone. As for Little Small-Feet, for many years 
her prayers ended: "Please don't let Old Scarred 
Face get me! Amen." 

At length the July heat blew over the city like 
the hot breath of a dragon and the day arrived 



86 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

for the long-desired trip to the hills. Little 
Small-Feet had talked mountains, eaten moun- 
tains, and dreamed mountains for the past few 
weeks, but when the moment of departure finally 
arrived, the busy tongue was quiet; her joy was 
beyond all the powers of speech. The whole 
available population from the foreign concession 
was at the gate to see them off. Little Pao Tse 
and Tien Sih were there, green with very un- 
heavenly envy, and the doctor, the nurses, and all 
the servants, down to the water coolies, crowded 
around to wish them a prosperous journey and a 
safe return. 

As Little Small-Feet climbed to her place, she 
was the happiest child in the whole Middle King- 
dom, but as they moved from the gates, she saw 
with horror, on the outskirts of the crowd of 
curious neighbors, the leering face of her old 
enemy. It was seven miles to the landing where 
they were to take the steamer, and their progress 
was necessarily slow, and half that distance Old 
Scarred Face followed them, reviling horribly, 
until at length the coolies drove her away. Poor 
Little Small-Feet was half dead with terror. It 
was a sad beginning, indeed, to the longed-for 
summer. The child had ceased to believe in ma- 



WHEN VIOLETS CAME AGAIN 87 

lignant spirits but memories of old superstitions 
clung to her mind like cobwebs. Could it be pos- 
sible that her dear lady was mistaken, after all, 
and that the mischievous beings were urging Old 
Scarred Face on, and laughing at Little Small- 
Feet up their sleeves all the time? She almost 
wished that she had done as Tien Sih had ad- 
vised and put on a charm against the evil eye, for 
Tien Sih, although he attended Sunday school 
regularly, felt that it was wise to keep in favor 
with both sides. 

The river steamers that ply the waters of the 
great empire are tied down to no fixed schedule ; 
they arrive at any hour and depart when their 
cargo has been discharged. The traveler soon 
learns not to fret at delay, or murmur if he 
reaches the wharf and finds that the boat for that 
day has already departed. Little Small-Feet 
and her friend made themselves as comfortable as 
they could on the dirty hulk with coolies and 
hotel runners curled up and asleep in almost 
every available spot. The steamer was even later 
than usual and would not arrive for several 
hours. The heat grew more and more intense, 
while the odors from all sorts of merchandise 
seemed to stifle them. They moved from spot to 



88 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

spot in a vain attempt to tind some air stirring, 
while their faithful amah sat as contemplatively 
as a Buddlia, guarding their heap of luggage. 

They had been waiting several hours when 
suddenly one of the men in charge of the wharf 
came rimning toward them. 

"Quick! You must hide!" he exclaimed. 
"You are in grave danger here, follow me!" 
Without hesitation they followed him, as he led 
the wav between hio-h bales of ffoods reaching 

. c? c? o 

yards above their heads. It was dark and 
stifling, but on they went to the farthest end of 
the hulk, and there he showed them where they 
could creep under some loose straw that might 
perhaps hide them. He heaped some empty bar- 
rels around them, leading at the lady's request a 
small peephole from which they could see do^vn 
the river and watch for the approach of the boat. 

"What has happened, and why do you hide us 
here?" the astonished lady exclaimed. 

"A swift messenger has just arrived from the 
city, saying that an angry mob of beggars and 
riffraff are coming, and they SAvear they will kill 
you and take the child. They clami that you 
have stolen her for the sake of killing her, because 
vou want her bones for medicine. Some of the 



WHEN VIOLETS CAME AGAIN 89 

city people have become alarmed and have joined 
in the riot." 

"How does it happen that you care to save 
us?" whispered the nurse, "and where are amah 
and the boy?" 

"Do you not remember me? My unworthy 
name is Meng, and I was cured at the hospital. 
I believe the doctrine and I can never forget 
your gracious kindness. If you stay here I think 
you will be safe, and I will tell the mob that they 
cannot enter the hulk unless they buy their tick- 
ets. I think that I can keep them until the boat 
comes. The amah and boy are Chinese and safe 
enough." 

One man's loyalty alone lay between them and 
an awful fate. On what a slender thread their 
safety depended! 

"Pray now, Little Small-Feet, if you have 
never prayed before!" softly whispered the lady 
in whose steady tones there was never a quaver. 

"And are you suffering this danger for me, for 
me?" sobbed the child. 

"There was One who suffered far more than 
this for me, little one!" 

The distant clamor of the mob could soon be 
heard like the roar of surf beating against the 



90 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

rocks. The sound of running feet approached 
nearer and the cries of men and women out for 
blood, and as they became louder the cries were 
horrible. 

"It's like the cry of the pack !" thought the lady. 

The heat was suffocating, when suddenly a 
breeze that had been playing languidly around 
the wharf seemed to sense that an old friend 
needed succor, for running out over the water, it 
suddenly turned and, making little ripples on the 
current, blew gently across their hiding place and 
revived their fainting spirits. 

The two refugees thus huddled together 
scarcely dared to breathe; would their protector 
be loyal or would terror turn him traitor? Then 
above the din of the mob sounded the shrill 
whistle of a steamer and the pant of an engine. 
The boat was coming at last! The crowd heard 
it, too, and tried to rush the hulk, but their friend 
stood steadfast. 

"You will answer to the governor if you step 
across this plank. There are men here who know 
you and your names will be reported. There is 
Old Scarred Face, and Lord Chang is searching 
for her now, and he is not so far north but his 
arm can reach her." 



WHEN VIOLETS CAME AGAIN 91 

These bold words frightened the leaders ; they 
saw the boat drawing near and the faces of the 
foreign officers staring inquiringly from the deck. 
These men were undoubtedly armed and they 
would not hesitate to use their arms for the pro- 
tection of the lady and a little girl. Such 
barbarians were reckless with weapons when it 
came to protecting Women and children. The 
quicker they turned heel the better for them, and 
the crowd melted away like hoarfrost. 

Kind hands assisted the trembling woman and 
half -fainting child to the deck. When they were 
safely in their cabin, the Great Helpful Lady 
leaned over the berth where Little Small-Feet 
lay weeping. 

"Ah, my child, we know now what it means 
when it says, 'He will give his angels charge over 
thee, to keep thee in all thy ways,' and are not 
angels better than evil spirits. Little Small- 
Feet?" she asked with a radiant smile. And the 
thoughtful little breezes wandered away to do 
some other gentle deed in a breathless, panting 
city. 



CHAPTER VI 

WHERE THE HILLS WERE BLUE 

Satin sails in a crimson dawn 

Over the silky silver sea; 
Purple veils of the dark withdrawn; 

Heavens of pearl and porphyry ; 
Purple and white in the morning light 

Over the water the town we knew, 
In tiny state, like a willow-plate, 

Shone, and behind it the hills were blue. 

— Alfred Noyes. 

OVER the great river the summer brooded. 
On the shore the sun poured down with fiery 
heat drawing up clouds of fine moisture, but the 
progress of the steamer made a refreshing breeze 
upon the deck that revived weary bodies. Here, 
at least, there was no danger from wandering 
mendicants; surely now Little Small-Feet could 
throw off the terror that had followed her, 
waking and sleeping, for so many months. 

How different was this swift journej^ from the 
heartbreaking travels of former years, when foot- 
sore and weary the waif had been dragged from 
town to town, and her life had been one long 

92 



WHERE HILLS WERE BLUE 93 



round of misery! For two days the shores 
sHpped by in a never-ending pageant and on the 
morning of the third, around a curve in the river, 
in the early sunrise, they saw the town where they 
were to disembark, and behind it, like the back- 
ground of a screen, the hills rose, blue and 
amethyst. 

Of course, there was a long delay before the 
steamer was finally fastened to the hulk and the 
gangplank lowered, and an endless parley with 
quarrehng coolies before they could cHmb into 
their chairs and feel that the last lap of their trip 
was now before them. But at length they were 
off, through the tortuous streets and under the 
gateway in the great city wall, then out on 
the plains with the hot, hazy clouds above, and the 
tiny fields hke a patchwork quilt around them. 
The paths were elevated above the surrounding 
country which lay ankle deep in water. Oh, the 
green of the rice as it simmered in the sun, and 
the purple mountains in the background, as they 
rose wave on wave from the foothills at their feet! 

After swinging for an hour or two past tiny 
villages and endless laborers tilling their crops, 
the character of the country began to change. 
The ground became more broken and the path 



94 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

began to ascend, and as they ascended the beauty 
grew at every step of the way. Into cup like val- 
leys they went where cool streams tinkled, and 
the lush grass grew deep with lihes and other 
wild flowers. Higher still, their road edged 
precipices and a false step would have hurled 
them thousands of feet into some unseen torrent. 
Sometimes the path would be nothing but a series 
of roughhewn steps, up which their coolies would 
bear them as lightly as if they had been thistle- 
down. And the summit, at sunset, when all the 
valleys were filled with changing, opalescent 
light, and far, far below the mighty river wound 
its way through the plain, looking like a thread 
of gold in a sea of pink and lavender ! 

"O my Great Helpful Lady, I never dreamed 
that any place in the world could be half so beau- 
tiful as this," cried Little Small-Feet, "I do not 
think even Old Scarred Face could be wicked 
here, but," she added wistfully, "I am afraid she 
has lost the habit of being good." 

As if to make amends for the past roughness 
of her life, the summer months treated Little 
Small-Feet very gently. The days were fierce 
with heat, but every evening fresh breezes 
wandered down the valley and cooled the bunga- 



WHERE HILLS WERE BLUE 95 

lows that lay in the shadow of the mountains. 
The summer showers seemed to beat with less 
fury than usual, and for whole days at a time 
they had no rain at all. In spite of picnics and 
hours spent in the open air, Little Small-Feet 
had to be conducted along the thorny road to 
knowledge, so a certain part of each day was set 
aside for study. Could it have been that her 
decided aptitude for learning was inherited from 
ancestors who boasted there had been scholars in 
the family as far back as the sage Confucius? 
One never knows but, if so, it was a help she did 
not realize ; Little Small-Feet only bemoaned the 
fact that she had been born a stupid girl, for the 
taunts of Old Scarred Face and the imp, Tien 
Sih, were not forgotten. 

"Why, Little Small-Feet, Old Scarred I^ ace is 
a woman herself. I do not see why you care 
about what she said ; I am a woman, too, and do 
you think me so outrageously dull?" asked her 
friend one day after the child had remarked, "I 
wish i had been born a boy." 

"You are everything that is wonderful!" the 
girl answered. "But if I had been born a boy, 
my parents would have tried to get me back when 
I was stolen; being only a girl I was not desired." 



96 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

When Autumn with her artist's colors had 
begun to turn their mountain top to red and gold, 
the friends knew that there must be no more dal- 
lying on these mountain paths and by the still 
river pools, even though their charm seemed to 
grow day by day more potent. There was a city 
lying on the plain whose cry rang in their ears, 
and the lady knew that she was one of the few 
who had the mystic touch that could bring peace 
and healing there. 

"Are there not many nurses and doctors in 
your so great and noble country?" asked Little 
Small-Feet the last day before their departure. 

"Yes, Little Small-Feet, many, many hun- 
dreds," her friend replied, as she thought of the 
number of doctors' signs on one street of an 
Occidental city, and the countless nurses sitting 
in their rooms waiting in vain for a possible case. 

"Well, I should think, if they really studied to 
be nurses and doctors for the sake of making 
people well, they would try to go where the need 
was greatest and they could help most people. I 
know I would." 

"Ah, little one, some do not know about the 
need here; indeed, I believe the majority of them 
do not. They are woefully ignorant of anything 



WHERE HILLS WERE BLUE 97 

that happens outside the border of their own 
town. You must remember, too, that it takes a 
great amount of pity for others to make men 
turn their backs on comforts and home and go to 
a strange, hostile country that does not want 
tliem because it does not understand their mo- 
tives. Homesickness is a terrible thing to fight 
and one must have a big vision to be able to leave 
friends for strangers one has never seen." 

"Oh, my lady, are you so sorry, then, that you 
came?" 

"Not for a moment; a person who has seen the 
suffering could never regret any sacrifice. Why, 
you alone make me glad." 

"Yes, I should be dead by now if you had not 
come." 

"Little Small-Feet, if Old Scarred Face were 
dying of some ailment you could cure, would you 
try to save her or would you let her die?" 

The child hesitated, for this question was 
wholly unexpected. "I do not know," she 
answered bravely. "Of course you would, but 
then you do not know Old Scarred Face. If I 
did cure her, I would see that she was put into 
some place where she could do no more harm to 
little children." 



98 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

"So would I," said her friend. "Fortunately 
we shall probably never be put to the test." 

The next day with sober faces they turned the 
key on the little bungalow that had sheltered 
them all summer and again trusted their lives and 
their possessions to the hands of the coolies. The 
return journey was made uneventfully but who 
will blame Little Small-Feet for casting many 
apprehensive glances on the shore, as their 
steamer slowly approached the hulk? 

"Why do you tremble, little one, and look so 
pale?" asked her friend. "Old Scarred Face is 
at the other end of the kingdom by now. From 
what you tell me she has probably a great many 
more important things to attend to than to watch 
one small girl from whom she can wring no 
money." 

"You will never understand a person like Old 
Scarred Face, my lady. You would not be you 
if you could. She has beggars everywhere and 
they send word from mouth to mouth, telling 
what her enemies are doing. She never forgives 
anyone whom she thinks has wronged her, and 
she loves to torment them as a cat does a mouse. 
And," here the child whispered very softly, as 
if her slightest word would be borne by the 



WHERE HILLS WERE BLUE 



wind to some unfriendly ear, "the dreadful part 
is, she always does manage to get the people in 
the end. What if she should get you, too? I 
never could bear it!" 

"Don't forget the angels who are to take care 
of us. Little Small-Feet," answered the lady with 
a bright smile. 

Whether Little Small-Feet was right or not, 
the first few months of their return were abso- 
lutely without alarm. The foreigners heard a 
rumor on the street that Old Scarred Face had 
been banished from the city on account of the 
riot, which had endangered some very delicate 
negotiations at the capital and had in conse- 
quence brought down official wrath on the ring- 
leaders. The fact that some of the foreign gov- 
ernments were growing restless over the treat- 
ment given to their citizens in out-of-the-way 
places kept the official class on their good behav- 
ior, and the staff of the hospital felt more secure 
from insult than they had in years. Prejudice 
seemed to be melting, and here and there one 
could find a more enlightened person who would 
admit in a half-hearted way that there might 
after all be something good in the strange medi- 
cine and the new doctrine they had heard in the 



100 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

wards. These things all combined to lighten the 
air of dread in which Little Small-Feet lived. 
'No precaution was omitted that was needed for 
her safety, but her life was freer and happier. 

The irrepressible Tien Sih, too, began to feel 
that it might be to his advantage and to the ad- 
vantage of his worthy father, the cook, to treat 
on almost equal terms the child who had basked 
all summer in the favor of the matron of the hos- 
pital. So he led the two little girls, Pao Tse and 
Little Small-Feet, into very much trouble first 
and last. 

Then one bright morning in September an- 
other of Little Small-Feet's dreams came true. 
Before the sun had sent the tiniest shaft of gold 
into her room, the child was awake and dressing. 
Fondly she fingered her pretty, blue, grass-linen 
coat, and very neatly she adjusted each string 
and saw that it was tied in exactly the knot eti- 
quette demands. Her shoes were a great source 
of pleasure, for she had made every stitch her- 
self even to the stuffing of the quilted sole and 
she felt that her sewing would bear the closest 
examination. 

"Now," she said to herself in triumph, "I am 
exactly like any other little girl!" There being 



WHERE HILLS WERE BLUE 101 

no curly-headed Anglo-Saxon present to look 
surprised, this statement went unchallenged. 
Then she ran to her friend's room for a general 
inspection. "It seems as if all the country must 
be glad to-day!" the child exclaimed. 

"If the people realized what the education of 
their girls is going to do for the nation, there 
would be bonfires and firecrackers set off all over 
this great city," answered her friend. 

Holding tightly to the lady's hand, Little 
Small-Feet set off to school; her eyes sparkled 
and her feet would have danced but for the Girl's 
Classic, which had taught from the earliest times 
that a maiden should be dignified. 

"Let your laugh be never boisterous. 
Nor converse in noisy way. 
Lest your neighbors all about you hear whatever you 

may say; 
Then be dignified in walking, and be orderly in gait. 
Never lean against a doorpost, but in standing, stand up 

straight.'* 

Soon they arrived at their destination and were 
properly introduced. When the teacher entered 
the classroom each girl rose in her place and gave 
her deep bow of respect to the most honorable 
lady, and then at last Little Small-Feet felt that 



102 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

she had left the rank of the beggars and could 
take her place among the scholars, and what a 
joy was hers! 

The tiny god of mischief must have been jeal- 
ous of such a quick road to success, for not more 
than a week had elapsed before trouble befell. 
The teacher was called away by a servant in the 
midst of one of the recitations; expecting to re- 
turn in a minute, she ordered the girls to continue 
studying; but alas, scarcely was her back turned 
when a great noise arose in the street below! 

"It's a wedding," exclaimed a girl. "The 
great official's daughter is to be married to-day." 

Was there ever a woman anywhere who did 
not grow excited at the thought of a wedding? 
The window was high above their heads, placed 
there on purpose to prevent the girls from gazing 
out or from being seen by curious passers-by. 
Quick as thought. Little Small-Feet, to whom a 
great many of the rules of conduct for girls were 
unfamiliar, climbed on a bench and peered eag- 
erly out of the window. There was a hush of 
consternation, then the other girls did the same, 
and when after five minutes the teacher returned, 
the pupils were all so absorbed that they did not 
hear her entrance. And after all it was not a 



WHERE HILLS WERE BLUE 103 

wedding but a few wandering priests begging for 
alms and being roundly reviled by old Li Sao Tze 
because inadvertently they had upset a bucket of 
small fish standing at her door ! 

Punishment immediately followed. There was 
no doubt about the children's guilt ; they had been 
caught in the act. Made wise by past experience, 
Little Small-Feet confessed her share and Pao 
Tze, fired by her brave example, did the same. 
The teacher was amazed; never in her whole 
career of teaching had a girl voluntarily admitted 
wrongdoing. She decided that it came from an 
unbecoming boldness on Little Small-Feet's 
part. In a twinkling she had sent the children 
home, with a note to their guardians. 

Ah, if she could have seen the depths of Little 
Small-Feet's humiliation, she would have drawn 
some other conclusion. Pao Tze took it lightly, 
rather pleased than otherwise to have a holiday. 
But Little Small-Feet wept all day long and 
refused to eat or sleep, and in the evening she 
told her friend all about it. 

"They will say that it was because I was a 
beggar child and will not want me in the school," 
she wailed. "My, why do I do wrong when I try 
so hard to be good?" 



104 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

If only Wang Dah Mah had heard her, she 
would have shaken her head and said: "You are 
bound to be unlucky ; you cannot fail to be. It is 
because the pagoda bells were silent at your 
birth; it was your parents' fault; they should 
have seen to it that the bells were rung!" 

But the lady comforted her in other more 
practical ways, by suggesting that she study her 
native etiquette so that she should not again 
offend against the rules of good society. Little 
Small-Feet began to feel that obtaining an edu- 
cation was to cost more than she had dreamed, for 
it was not until her aptitude for study and her 
proficiency in games had put her at the head of 
the school that the girls stopped calling her "beg- 
gar child" and asking if she had seen a wedding 
lately. 

Still another year slipped away, and another 
and another. In all this time no word was heard 
from Old Scarred Face and the fear of her 
gradually disappeared from the child's mind, so 
that she ceased to start and tremble at any sud- 
den noise and to look apprehensively over her 
shoulder at the sound of a strange voice. The 
little girl was growing from a child into a sweet- 
faced, low- voiced maiden. Sometimes in her ex- 



WHERE HILLS WERE BLUE 105 

pression there would be a wistful sadness as 
if she was looking at all the sorrow of all the 
world; at other times, however, she would be 
bright and gay; but, in whatever mood she was, 
she was very winsome and drew strangers irre- 
sistibly to her. 

At length came a spring when the Great Help- 
ful Lady was to return to her own land and take 
Little Small-Feet with her to be educated. Sev- 
eral weeks before they had planned to sail, the 
lady decided to give a birthday party for her 
favorite to celebrate the time when Little Small- 
Feet had first arrived at the hospital. 

Now no little breezes whispered into Little 
Small-Feet's ear that she had ever had a birthday 
party before and she was just as excited as 
if it was her very first. As she had no recol- 
lection of that earlier occasion, this one seemed 
wonderful to her; nor did it worry her a bit that 
the highborn ladies in the City That Lies in the 
Shadow^ of Purple Mountain were absolutely 
oblivious of this social event. ISTo coats and skirts 
stiff with embroidery were taken out and talked 
over for this festivity, and the caterers through- 
out the town were not put to it to procure enough 
shark fins to suit polite palates. 



106 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

Nor were costly presents worth almost a 
king's ransom prepared, but all the schoolgirls 
were stitching away in odd corners, full of haste 
to be prepared with a surprise for their friend 
when the auspicious day should arrive. For the 
girls' school and its teachers were invited and 
Tien Sih's father was very busy, hoping to estab- 
lish his reputation forever. Tien Sih himself was 
for once full of regret over his masculine gender, 
for of course it would not be proper to have boys 
present — every parent would have protested in 
horror over such an idea. So Tien Sih could do 
nothing, but he took out his disappointment in 
making sarcastic remarks to his boy friends on 
the outlandish ways of foreigners, who were turn- 
ing the world upside down and taking woman 
out of the sphere for which she was intended. 
Tien Sih at the age of fourteen was even more 
unbearable than he had been four years before — 
the prosperity of his father, the cook, had cer- 
tainly turned his head. 

The hospital grounds had never looked so 
lovely as on the afternoon and evening of that 
soft spring day, and the garden was a bower of 
blossoms. Wonderful lanterns of every conceiv- 
able shape were hung in nooks and out-of-the- 



WHERE HILLS WERE BLUE 107 

way corners, giving just the uncertain light that 
turns shrubbery and clumps of trees into fairy- 
land. The tables were spread in the center of the 
lawn, and strings of lanterns above them added 
to the gayety of the scene. The girls in their soft 
blue and white coats were not unlike the flowers 
themselves, and the buildings rang with the music 
of happy voices. 

Little Small-Feet's prosperity had sweetened 
and matured her in many ways and if Wang Dah 
Mah had seen her gentle, courteous greeting of 
every guest, she might have conceded at last that 
the spell wrought on the child by the silent pa- 
goda bells had ceased to have effect. However 
that may be, it is a certain fact that had Little 
Small-Feet been told the story of her enchant- 
ment she would have heard it with a smile, for her 
dread of evil spirits had long ago fled. 

"It's the evil in men's hearts that I am afraid 
of," she would say, with a shudder at the thought 
of her captivity. 

Of all the people in the compound — ^not count- 
ing, of course. Little Small-Feet and her lady — 
the patients in the wards were the happiest that 
day, for at the girl's request each one received a 
bag of sweetmeats or a tiny gift, and early in the 



108 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

evening all the schoolgirls gathered beneath the 
hospital windows and sang their songs and glees. 

It would take a ten- volume account to describe 
all the cheer and the good will at that party. 
Tien Sih himself, the sulky one, was not forgot- 
ten ; besides, he and the whole cook's family, not 
to mention some of the neighbors, dined many 
days and well on the remnants. In the end Tien 
Sih quite reversed his opinion about the emanci- 
pation of women — for even in the Far East table 
dainties seem to be the most direct road to a 
man's affections. 

In the midst of all these festivities the Great 
Helpful Lady disappeared. She was not missed 
at first for the fun was at its height, but when half 
an hour and then an hour slipped by. Little 
Small-Feet grew anxious. 

"Ah, there she is !" all the girls exclaimed, when 
she at length came in sight, but only Little 
Small-Feet noticed that her friend seemed pale 
and absent-minded. 

Even the happiest evenings come to an end, 
and the time finally arrived when all the guests 
must go and the fairy lanterns be blown out. 

"Slowly, slowly, slowly walk," pleaded the 
polite hostess, when the girls made a motion to 

r 



WHERE HILLS WERE BLUE 109 

leave, "the time has been far too short." But in 
spite of protests and many delays they at length 
separated and Little Small-Feet and her guard- 
ian were alone. 

Little Small-Feet urged her friend to retire, 
but the lady replied that she had a few things to 
see about and that the girl must not wait for her, 
and happy and tired the girl was soon fast asleep. 

Then the lady began to do many strange 
things. 

As soon as she was certain that her charge was 
unconscious she drew down the blinds so that not 
a crack of light could be seen; then she quietly 
took off her shoes, putting in their place a pair of 
noiseless slippers. This being done, she slipped 
to the door and opened it so suddenly that she 
nearly upset a man who was bent nearly double 
with his eye at the keyhole. 

"Lao Wang, what are you doing here?" she 
sternly demanded. At that moment the doctor 
appeared at the other end of the corridor and she 
beckoned to him for help. 

"This must be the man!" she exclaimed in 
EngHsh. 

"Don't worry, I'll manage him," replied the 
doctor, seizing the man who had hoped to escape. 



110 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

The nurse returned to her room, but this time 
she took the precaution to hang a rug over the 
door. Then, instead of preparing for bed, she 
continued her strange behavior. She pulled out 
a trunk from one corner and with great speed 
and caution as to noise, she began to fill it. 
Never was any trunk so quickly packed before 
and into it went all her own things and in a 
smaller one Little Small-Feet's precious posses- 
sions. It was nearly two o'clock before she had 
finished her task and a harder one lay before 
her: she must awaken a sleeping girl without 
being heard in the corridor. 

"Little Small-Feet, Little Small-Feet," she 
whispered, "wake up, but be very quiet." 

"Oh, what is the matter?" the girl sobbed, still 
drowsy and very much frightened. 

"Old Scarred Face and Creeping Sin have re- 
turned, and are making a plot to burn all the 
foreign buildings and start a general riot. They 
have bribed Lao Wang, the coolie, to watch you 
and me so that they will be sure to catch us. The 
officials are now very unfriendly so they will not 
protect us. Their plans are not quite ready and 
if we can catch to-night's steamer, it may save the 
compound. All depends on our quietness; we 



WHERE HILLS WERE BLUE 111 

were going soon and Old Scarred Face must have 
gotten wind of our plans." 

"Didn't I tell you that she never forgets any- 
body?" Little Small-Feet shivered. 

The cautions to be quiet were needless; quick 
as a flash the girl had caught the idea and, 
trembling and breathless, she soon dressed. A 
light knock was heard on the door ; opening it on 
the crack they saw the doctor. He beckoned and 
they followed. The trunks must be left behind 
to be sent after them; they could take only a 
small bag with them, full of necessities. 

Softly as shadows they slipped down the corri- 
dors and out to the back gate of the compound, 
which the doctor unlocked with the pass-key. 

"Half an hour ago Lao Wang escaped," 
whispered the doctor to the lady as he assisted her 
into her ricksha; "the coolies are loyal; we will 
outrun them yet." 

"Then this is a race with death?" she 
questioned. 

Again the doctor nodded. "If the worst comes 
to the worst, we shall at least die together," he 
thought to himself. 

"Quickly, very quickly!" he ordered the men 
and they started off at a brisk trot. 



CHAPTER VII 

WAS IT CREEPING SIN? 

But, e'en as the moonlight air grew sweet. 
We heard the pad of stealthy feet 

Dogging us down the thin white road; 
And the song grew weary again and harsh. 
And the black trees dripped like the fringe of a marsh. 

And a laugh crept out like a shadowy toad; 
And we knew it was neither ghoul nor djinn: 
It was Creeping Sin ! It was Creeping Sin ! 

— ^Alfred Noyes. 

THE night was full of lurking shadows which 
took on menacing shapes and seemed to 
threaten the fugitives with wild gestures as they 
approached, only to turn into harmless poles or 
trees when they reached them. A waning moon 
was half hidden by scurrying clouds, and its un- 
certain light made the shadows the more formid- 
able. If only the pariah dogs could have taken 
the hurrying footsteps of the coolies as a matter 
of course, but at each group of houses they set 
up a howl as if to warn the householders that 
some dark deed was afoot. Even the roosters 
were in league against the little party and crowed 

112 



WAS IT CREEPING SIN? 113 

so lustily and so often that they felt that the 
whole animal world was ready to turn and rend 
them. 

Little Small-Feet sat erect, her hands clutch- 
ing a bundle of treasures that she had hastily 
thrown together. Was this, then, to be the end of 
her and her dear lady, and were all their dreams 
for the future to be frustrated by the vengeance 
of her old enemies? It would have been better 
far to die in the cave on the mountain than to 
bring those who loved her into such peril. Sud- 
denly she called to the coolies to stop, and the 
three rickshas drew up a stone's throw from some 
hovels. 

"I am going back," she said to the doctor. "I 
cannot have you, my lady, run such risks for me. 
I will give myself up to Old Scarred Face. 
After all, it is I whom she wants, and if she once 
gets hold of me she will let you alone." 

*'0 Little Small-Feet," exclaimed her friend, 
"do you understand us. so little that you think we 
would ever allow it? Come, we must hurry on; 
each moment's delay is dangerous." And again 
the three took up their flight. 

The eyes of the two women were fixed on the 
road in front, but the doctor, as he spurred the 



114 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

coolies on, frequently turned his head as he saw a 
low flicker of red rising over the city behind them. 
As he watched, the light grew brighter and shoot- 
ing sparks went higher and higher. And he 
wondered to himself whether Old Scarred Face 
had accomplished her threat, and if the hospital 
was now in flames, what, then, had happened to 
the rest of the station? 

As they drew nearer the river, down the wind 
came the sound of running footsteps, at first faint 
and hardly to be distinguished from the night 
wind in the willows, but soon plainer and yet 
more plain until the doubt became a certainty. 
Then the first faint flush of pink in the east gave 
promise of the dawn, but the eyes that were 
strained toward the river could not be lifted for 
one moment to see the hope of the morning, for 
before the sun rose in splendor, the race with 
death might be finished forever. 

Now the voices of a crowd could be distinctly 
heard in the rear, coarse voices full of threaten- 
ing, and around the bend in the road, the first of 
their pursuers might come at any moment. But 
joy, just ahead of the three rickshas was the turn 
that led to the wharf, and greater relief yet — at 
the hulk puffed and panted the steamer! The 



WAS IT CREEPING SIN? 115 

coolies, spurred to renewed efforts at the sight of 
their goal, gathered their forces for one magnifi- 
cent spurt, and just as the mob reached the other 
end of the street, the ladies hurried up the 
gangplank. 

The doctor, seeing them safely on board, re- 
fused to go with them. "I have ways of hiding 
until the mob disperses," he said, "and I must go 
back, for the others may need me in the hospital." 
He did not tell them of the sinister light he had 
seen hovering over the city. He said good-by to 
Little Small-Feet and with a lingering look at 
the sweet face and wistful eyes of the lady, he 
was gone. 

As soon as possible they hurried to their cabin 
and before long Little Small-Feet was fast 
asleep, safe in the thought that she was leaving 
her old enemies behind forever. Her friend had 
been through too much that night to think of re- 
pose. The fate of the hospital was still in doubt 
and she followed in thougjit each step the doctor 
took on his return. Little Small-Feet did not 
awaken until the noonday sun struck full on her 
face ; then turning she saw her friend sitting close 
beside her, 

"Well, my child, you have had a long sleep 



116 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

and soon we must have tiffin. There are several 
foreigners on board and I think it is time you 
were known by some other name than Little 
Small-Feet. That is all right for a child but 
hardly dignified enough for a young lady who 
hopes some day to be a doctor. Shall I introduce 
you by the name of Dong Hsie Yin?^ That is 
the name you were baptized by last year and a 
beautiful name it is, but, of course, when we are 
alone I shall always call you Little Small-Feet." 

Thus for the third time the child received a 
name, but in her heart of hearts she always liked 
Little Small-Feet the best, and begged her dear- 
est friends to call her that. To strangers she 
was known as Dong Hsie Yin. 

When the river steamer at length drew up 
beside the bund, at the City by the Sea, Little 
Small-Feet exclaimed with pleasure at the 
strange buildings and all the noise and bustle. 

"Ah," she laughed, "I am coming into a new 
world with a new name, and now I can forget all 
my old enemies." Little Small-Feet did not real- 
ize that old foes might cling as fast as the old 
name. 



^ "Dong" is the family name; "Hsie Yin" means "Thank- 
ful for mercy." 



WAS IT CREEPING SIN? 117 

Hsie Yin passed three very eventful days in 
the City by the Sea, for each moment was filled 
with unusual sights. It was always a treat to 
pass down the broad streets with their overhang- 
ing balconies and bright signs covered with gilt 
characters, and going to the bund to watch the 
river thronged with every kind of native junk, 
and foreign craft never lost its charm. On the 
fourth day as they stood under the trees of the 
park, a ricksha drew up in front of them and 
their good friend, the doctor, stepped out. Little 
Small-Feet smiled a glad welcome and wondered 
why her guardian turned so white and then such 
a charming pink. 

"It is really you!" the lady stammered. "I 
have not been able to rest for fear of what might 
have happened to you and the hospital." 

"Well," he replied, "we had a pretty hot time 
for a few hours. Thank God, no one was hurt, 
but the hospital was burned and they are sending 
me home to raise money for another." 

A very happy trio returned to the house that 
day; Little Small-Feet went on in front and the 
other two followed her slowly. The news about 
the hospital and a life work undone was indeed a 
sad blow to the Great Helpful Lady, but the 



118 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

thought that none of her friends had fallen 
victims to the mob compensated a little for the 
loss and relieved her mind of a dread that had 
haunted her ever since she had said good-by to 
the doctor on that awful night. 

The two friends walked slower and slower, 
while Hsie Yin unconsciously quickened her pace 
to watch a funeral procession that, with great 
wailing of hired mourners, was coming down the 
cross street. The gay gowns of the priests and 
the handsome trappings of the sedan chairs held 
her spellbound, and she never noticed a figure 
that came skulking up beside her until a birdlike 
claw was laid upon her arm. Then she turned in 
horror to see the leering features of Old Scarred 
Face almost touching her. With a scream of 
terror. Little Small-Feet snatched her arm away 
and turned to flee, never noticing in her horror 
which direction she took. Was the Goddess of 
Mercy watching over the girl at last or, rather, 
the guardian angels of her lady's psalm? Fortu- 
nately for her, she ran straight into the arms of 
her approaching friends. Had she made another 
turn, this story of Little Small-Feet would have 
ended right here or would never have been 
written. 



WAS IT CREEPING SIN? 119 

"What is the matter? What in the world has 
happened?" her guardian exclaimed. With 
gasping breath the girl explained. The doctor 
hurried forward in pursuit but when he reached 
the corner there was no sign of the woman; she 
had completely disappeared. 

"I thought I was safe forever," Little Small- 
Feet sobbed. "Do you suppose she will follow 
me to the end of the world?" 

Her friends assured her that Old Scarred Face 
could not afford the price of the steamer fare, but 
they acknowledged to themselves that the woman 
must be in deadly earnest to have followed them 
so quickly and to have paid the necessary passage 
on the river boat. 

From that time forward Hsie Yin was never 
permitted to be alone either in the house or on 
the street, and their cabins were engaged for the 
first steamer that sailed to America. On the day 
they went away the doctor, who was to remain 
behind for a month on business, came to the 
launch to see them off. While the two older 
people were engrossed in conversation. Little 
Small-Feet went to the rail to watch the crowd, 
for it was an absorbing sight to see strangers 
from every nation of the globe. Hsie Yin be- 



120 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

came so interested that she did not realize that it 
was time to start until she heard the doctor's 
voice in her ears speaking to her. 

"Good-by, Little Small-Feet," he said; "take 
good care of your Great Helpful Lady, for she 
has promised to be my lady too." Then he 
turned and walked down the gangplank. 

Little Small-Feet was so surprised that she 
could not think what he meant. Was her guard- 
ian going to desert her just as they had launched 
out on their great adventure? One glance at her 
friend's face reassured her, and being too inter- 
ested in their departure to ask any questions, she 
turned to look at the wharf where the doctor was 
standing. The ropes were cast off from the dock 
and their launch began to fall slowly down the 
stream. The girl lifted her eyes a minute from 
the doctor to look at a pile of crates standing 
near him. Her astonished gaze fell upon the 
pock-marked features and dreaded scowl of Old 
Scarred Face, rendered even more malignant by 
thv/arted spite. She fascinated Little Small- 
Feet as a snake does its prey and, try as she 
could, the girl could not turn her eyes away from 
her old enemy. The last human being, therefore, 
that Hsie Yin saw when she left her native land 



WAS IT CREEPING SIN? 121 

was the face of her most dreaded foe and, al- 
though she could not hear them, the curses of the 
woman seemed to ring in her ears. 

It takes an old and experienced sailor to enjoy 
the cross currents of the Yellow Sea, and on the 
first day out Hsie Yin was sick ; no one had ever 
been so ill before, she thought ; she could not lift 
her head from the pillow, and she was absolutely 
certain that by the end of the three weeks there 
would be no Little Small-Feet left to tread the 
longed-for streets of the City by the Golden 
Gate. She even shed a tear or two of sympathy 
for her dear lady who, she knew, would grieve at 
her untimely end, and for her country to which 
she could never bring life and healing. She did 
not guess how many times travelers had imagined 
the same things before. 

By the end of the second day, however, when 
the soft, gray haze slowly turned into the moun- 
tains and cliffs of old Japan, Hsie Yin had recov- 
ered sufficiently to be on deck and watch with a 
dawning interest the fast approaching shore. 
During the next few days the girl felt that at 
length she had sailed into fairyland, for all past 
troubles and dread of the future voyage were lost 
in the enjoyment of the moment. The blue of 



122 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

the sky, where whole fleets of white clouds sailed, 
wafted hither and thither by wayward breezes, 
was reflected in the clear water below. The tiny 
islands that dotted the sea were robed in every 
shade of green, from the light green of the ter- 
raced rice fields to the feathery bamboo and the 
darker shades of the pines, and beneath these 
quaint, gnarled pines the curved roof of a temple 
or the arch of a stone torii could be seen, or per- 
haps some wayside inn or farmer's cottage. The 
village streets and houses, which scrambled up 
the hillside and clung there in spite of all of the 
laws of gravitation, were also a wonder and de- 
light to both travelers. 

"I did not know that there were such lovely 
spots," Hsie Yin would exclaim; "I never 
thought that any country could be so beautiful as 
mine, and of course I never could love it in the 
same way, but I am sure that the king of the 
fairies must live here." 

The sunsets and sunrises, too, turned all their 
loveliness to gold and pink and sapphire with 
lemon-yellow, mauves, and soft greens all blend- 
ing into one, colors which no paint box ever held 
and which are the despair of artists. It was one 
long week of beauty and of ecstasy until the ad- 



WAS IT CREEPING SIN? 123 

jectives of the dictionary were exhausted and the 
senses were almost drunk with color. At the end 
they sailed at sunset up the famous Yokohoma 
Bay. Above it, rising like a cloud that the slight- 
est breeze could waft away, was the cone of the 
sacred mountain, the dazzling white of the snow 
kissed to a delicate pink by the setting sun. 

"A snow-peak in the silver skies 

Beyond that magic world. 
We saw the great volcano rise 

With incense o'er it curled. 
Whose tiny thread of rose and blue 

Has risen since time began, 
Before the first enchanter knew 

The peak of old Japan." 

It seemed almost a sacrilege to set foot on these 
fairy shores, but when they landed the friends 
were as delighted as they had been on the deck of 
the steamer. They reveled in the quaint, winding 
streets, the picturesque costumes of the people 
and, in the evening, the flickering of the lanterns 
carried by the ricksha coolies, looked like some 
giant fireflies dancing hither and thither. 

The steamer waited a whole day in the harbor 
in order to take on cargo and the passengers 
were free to spend the time as they wished. Hsie 



124 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

Yin and her lady decided to take the train to see 
the famous Daibutsu that sits majestically in its 
park, apparently unconscious of the pilgrims that 
come from near and far to do it homage. 

It was Little Small-Feet's first ride in a rail- 
road train and though to her friend it seemed like 
a toy imitation of the real thing, to the girl it was 
a never-ceasing wonder. By this time, however, 
she had seen so many new and strange sights that 
she took it all more quietly and as a matter of 
course. The Daibutsu struck an answering 
chord in her breast. He seemed to symbolize the 
contemplative spirit of the Far East that she was 
to leave behind, perhaps for years. 

"I like his calm and his quietness," she said; "I 
hope that I shall never get so hurried that I can- 
not sit and tjiink on the great matters of life." 

"Yes, he is restful," her friend repHed, "but he 
is too unmindful of the trouble and sorrow 
around him ; I want a God whose face shows the 
lines of sorrow, who bears a mark of the scars." 

"You are right; I had not thought of that; 
Daibutsu does not look as if he would care a bit 
if all the children were caught by Old Scarred 
Face." 

All the way back Hsie Yin was quite subdued. 



WAS IT CREEPING SIN? 125 

for the mention of Old Scarred Face had cast a 
shadow over her. A whole week had passed and 
she had forgotten the woman's existence, but now 
she had an almost superstitious dread that her 
spell was still upon her. 

At the station they again climbed into rickshas 
and were swiftly drawn toward the steamboat 
l3,nding. Hsie Yin's coolie went so rapidly that 
he paid no attention to a ricksha coming down a 
side street and had to turn suddenly to avoid an 
accident. The two men drew up just long 
enough for Little Small-Feet to get a clear 
glance at the face of the passenger in the other 
vehicle. What was her horror to see the sallow 
features and sly smile of Creeping Sin! Then as 
she drew back in terror, his ricksha turned and 
disappeared into the gathering dusk. 

Nothing more occurred to alarm them until 
they reached the wharf and boarded the launch; 
this was the last point of call before they left the 
Orient and its charms, its wonderful fascination, 
and its heartrending sorrows behind, and turned 
their faces toward the land of the to-morrow. If 
only they had been assured that they had left 
Creeping Sin behind as well, they would have 
rested more easily. Why had he come to Japan? 



126 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

How had he heard of their plans, or was this 
meeting a pure accident? There seemed to be no 
solution to the question. 

The next morning Little Small-Feet awoke 
very early, and as she could not drop off to sleep 
again, she decided to go out on deck for a breath 
of air. She suddenly opened the door and 
stepped out into the corridor, nearly overturning 
their bedroom steward who had evidently been 
standing listening to their conversation. Very 
much startled, Hsie Yin returned to her friend 
and throwing herself on the couch burst into 
tears. 

"What have I done?" she cried, "that I should 
be so tormented?" 

"Well, my dear," her friend replied, "you have 
done nothing, but I am sure that when we have 
reached the other side we can throw them off. 
Surely they have more profitable things to do 
than to follow a child with no money and no con- 
nections. I have told you that the doctor has 
friends in the State Department, and if this per- 
secution continues, we will have these people 
arrested and sent home. You know that when I 
promised to become the doctor's wife, he declared 
that he would look out for you as if you were his 



WAS IT CREEPING SIN? 127 

very own. I am glad that you will not be with- 
out the protection of a man, who will understand, 
much better than I, how to handle the matter." 

*'You will have to go back long before I am 
educated though, and then whatever will become 
of me?" 

"We will never go until we are sure that you 
are safe. Then you will come and join us and it 
is my dream that the three of us can begin the 
work that we planned long ago." 

Comforted by this thought, Hsie Yin dried her 
eyes and began to feel better. The stewardess at 
this moment entered with a cup of tea and the 
gossip of the steamer. 

"Yes," she said, "there are many Chinese gen- 
tlemen traveling these days and a fine lot of 
trouble they make with all their servants and 
their meals that have to be cooked by their own 
chefs. There is a grand nobleman who has the 
best suite on this steamer. They say that his 
name is Lord Chang and he's some kin to the 
Emperor. I don't care who he is, he's a mean 
one if ever there was one. He's going to the ex- 
hibition to represent the Empress Dowager, and 
he is that mad about it, because he hates foreign 
countries, but she made him go. There's a friend 



128 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

of his traveling with him who has a sly smile ; he 
gives a Hberal tip, but I can't stomach his look at 
all ; he's a bad one, he is, and up to no good ! He 
sticks to his cabin and never goes out, but his 
servants are always underfoot." 

The stewardess was mistaken in part of her in- 
formation, for Creeping Sin and Lord Chang 
were not traveling in the same party, but Creep- 
ing Sin had chosen to sail on the steamer with the 
nobleman for his own purpose. Very recently 
the two bitter enemies had become partners in 
crime. How it happened no one knew except the 
wily Spider, and he for obvious reasons would 
not explain. 

When the tiffin gong sounded and the rest of 
the passengers had hastened to the dining salon. 
Lord Chang and Creeping Sin had a meeting in 
the latter's suite. Creeping Sin received his 
guest with every courtesy and talked in an oily, 
unctuous tone very different from the coarse 
manner he was accustomed to use to Old Scarred 
Face. 

"Yes," he said, "as always your honor speaks 
the truth. These foreigners will ruin our noble 
land and I for one would like to see every one of 
them dropped into the depths of the sea. But it 



WAS IT CREEPING SIN? 129 

f . ' ■ 'I 

must be handled with care. When you see their 
armies and navies as I have done in my journeys 
to their accursed countries, you will realize that 
it requires caution. It will take time but we can 
outwit them. Do you know that on this very 
steamer there is a beautiful Chinese girl whom 
they have stolen? They are taking her to their 
own country, they say, to educate her. They will 
do this more and more until our land of blessed 
calm will be in a turmoil like their own, with no 
peace anywhere, our gods forgotten, and our be- 
loved Confucius a byword and a contempt. 
Every child who receives their foreign education 
becomes a menace to the Empire. Soon the good 
old days of the sages will be gone forever." 

Lord Chang ground his teeth at this news. 
"This must be stopped," he exclaimed. "You are 
clever at such things, cannot you manage to have 
her disappear? I might perhaps be able to ar- 
range that no questions are asked. You concoct 
some story and I will indorse it. You must do 
it frequently in your business." 

"It would be a dehcate matter and would cost 
more than I care to put into it. The officials of 
the City by the Golden Gate have an undue prej- 
udice against some of my activities. I will un- 



130 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

dertake the commission only under the condition 
that I may dispose of her as I please, but I can 
give little time to the affair for I have other game 
to follow." 

"For five hundred dollars I will give you every 
right to her," replied Lord Chang. 

"Why should I pay for the trouble I am to 
take and the risk I have to run?" asked the 
accomplice. 

"You can sell her for five thousand taels if she 
is as beautiful as you say," returned Lord Chang. 
"Official protection has to be well paid for in 
matters of this kind ; it is a great risk for me to 
wink at such matters and might endanger the 
Empire." 

They bickered back and forth until Lord 
Chang compromised on half the sum. Few 
people knew that the nobleman had bartered his 
daughter for the paltry sum of two hundred and 
fifty dollars. In fact many long years were to 
pass before he realized it himself, but when he 
had left the cabin Creeping Sin sat and gloated 
with the old, sly smile on his face. 



CHAPTER VIII 

LITTLE SMALL-FEET TAKES A JOURNEY 

And o'er us the whole of the soft blue sky- 
Flashed like fire as the world went by_, 
And far beneath us the sea like fire 
Flashed in one soft blue brilliant stream. 
And the journey was done, like a change in a dream. 

— Alfred Noyes. 

CREEPING Sin kept very closely to his own 
rooms. He was too busy over his schemes to 
care that the seas were blue and that flying fish 
with a flash of silver in their fins were making a 
mad race to keep up with the ship. He paid no 
attention to the breezes that wandered in and out. 
of the porthole and fluttered the curtains and 
rustled the papers, but the little breezes watched 
him closely, for they realized that here was a man 
to whom the fresh air of heaven, the bright sun- 
light, and the open highway were repugnant, and 
they wished to find out what schemes he was 
planning against the good and innocent. 

Like a great, black spider, Creeping Sin sat in 
his cabin weaving a web to catch his victims. He 

131 



132 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

thought of his last night in the City by the Sea 
and how Old Scarred Face had brought him word 
that Little Small-Feet was to sail on this very 
steamer. With a wicked joy they had planned to 
make her own father deliver her into their hands. 
He had been careful to warn Old Scarred Face 
that she would reap no benefit from the capture ; 
her only reward must be the knowledge that she 
had had her revenge on the child and her protect- 
ors. He had never seen her venom so plainly 
shown, and even he shuddered when he thought 
that some day that malice might be turned 
against himself. 

"We have scorched the beehive and have driven 
the bees away forever," chuckled the woman. 
"After the burning of the hospital they will never 
dare return to the city." 

"You will not see the girl again unless you 
visit the City by the Golden Gate, and the ocean 
is too deep and broad for you to walk across," 
grinned Creeping Sin, "but you can rest your 
heart in the thought that she shall pay double for 
all the trouble she has cost us." Old Scarred 
Face laughed harshly at his words although she 
would have much preferred dealing out her own 
vengeance. 



SMALL-FEET TAKES A JOURNEY 133 

Creeping Sin mused on all these things, and 
then began to scheme the kidnaping of Little 
Small-Feet. He laid his toils carefully and 
seemed to think of every contingency but he 
failed to take into consideration the fact that in- 
nocence and virtue can walk unscathed through 
plots and snares. He had never heard of Una 
and the Lion. 

Hsie Yin's days were one long suspense and 
dread for she felt conscious that silken threads 
were being wound around her, threads that she 
could not break because they were invisible and 
placed by such cunning hands. The two friends 
were on the alert night and day and their imagi- 
nations frequently gave them false alarms so 
that they started at the slightest sound. Several 
times they ran into blue, skulking figures hidden 
in dark corners or heard furtive footsteps in their 
corridor at night, so that their fears were not 
groundless. 

The beautiful harbor of the City of the Golden 
Gate was approached with much suspense. 
Would they be able to elude their pursuer here? 
The Great Helpful Lady mapped out her course 
of action. She expected to be met by friends 
who were very influential in the city and decided 



134 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

to appeal to them for assistance and, if necessary, 
for police protection ; with such aid, she thought, 
they ought to be safe. 

Fortunately their luggage was light and they 
could hurry through the customhouse, the only 
danger of delay being at the immigration office, 
and they had little fear of detention there as the 
doctor had been at great pains to see that Hsie 
Yin's entrance papers were properly signed and 
sealed. 

Creeping Sin had already made up his mind 
what he would do. He had a shrewd knowledge 
of what a little clever tipping often accomplished, 
and his only fear was that his passport, which was 
forged, might be confiscated. He was conscious 
that his activities had often been frowned on by 
the better element in the city, but he felt confi- 
dent that he could enter by means of bluff and 
bribes. He even suggested to Lord Chang that 
he would like to enter as a member of his retinue, 
but Lord Chang, not being able to see anything 
in it for himself, and having lost a large sum in 
fan-tan to Creeping Sin, said that it was not con- 
venient and the matter was dropped. Creeping 
Sin, however, added this last item to the other 
grudges he had against Lord Chang to be settled 



SMALL-FEET TAKES A JOURNEY 135 

at some future date. When he reached the un- 
derground world of Chinatown, he was confident 
that the kidnaping of Little Small-Feet would 
be an easy matter because he had often managed 
little affairs of this kind with the greatest ease. 

On the day of the landing, however, the guard- 
ian angels did their very best for Hsie Yin, and 
Creeping Sin's attendant demons must have been 
away on a vacation for they did not help him in 
the least. The ladies' friends met them at the 
wharf, listened to their story with the greatest 
attention, and at once took up the matter. 

"He is the very man we are looking for," ex- 
claimed one of the gentlemen. "We have a re- 
form government here at present which is trying 
to clean up Chinatown. If the man you speak of 
is the one I think he is, he owns one of the largest 
gambling places here. The police have been after 
him for months but he disappeared and evidently 
went back to his own country. They had a sus- 
picion that he might arrive on this steamer and 
are waiting for him at this moment. If you will 
describe him, I will notify the immigration 
officers." 

Hsie Yin told of Creeping Sin's masklike 
countenance and sly smile in a very trembling 



136 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

voice and when she had finished the party hur- 
ried off the wharf. The ladies did not remain 
long in the city, feeling that it was wiser to put 
as many miles as possible between them and their 
tormentor, but before they left they had the satis- 
faction of knowing that Creeping Sin was spend- 
ing the night in a detention shed; that his pass- 
port was suspected so the chances were that he 
would be deported. 

Creeping Sin, at the moment when their train 
drew out of the station, was grinding his teeth in 
impotent rage. He had no clue as to who had 
betrayed him, but by all the gods that he knew he 
swore to have vengeance on the "foreign devils" 
and never to draw a quiet breath until he had the 
girl and her guardians in his power. In ten days' 
time, however, he was again on a steamer sailing 
back to his own country. 

The morning Hsie Yin had landed she had 
watched with interest the greetings that were ex- 
tended to Lord Chang and his suite by various 
prominent men in the city. It made her happy 
to feel that one of her countrymen should be 
treated with such honor, and she drew quite near 
to watch the ceremonies, but Hsie Yin did not 
suspect for a moment that it was her father that 



SMALL-FEET TAKES A JOURNEY 137 

was being so feted. She was familiar enough 
with the faces of her enemies but her father and 
mother were strangers to her. 

The ladies hurried at once to the Great Help- 
ful Lady's family, who lived in a prosperous New 
England town where fine schools and educational 
opportunities abounded, and Hsie Yin plunged 
immediately into a new world. The months of 
adjustment were naturally very hard, because 
children from the Orient are a curiosity and are 
often treated as such by tactless strangers, but 
on the whole Hsie Yin was received cordially and 
after the first few months she felt herself quite at 
home. One fact added greatly to her comfort: 
she found that in this particular city she was the 
only person from her own land, and she felt that 
here at least there could be no danger from Old 
Scarred Face. 

After a year her Great Helpful Lady and the 
doctor were married and again returned to their 
work, leaving Little Small-Feet in the hands of 
friends who promised to give her a home and 
watch her progress with the most painstaking 
care. This home was plain but full of the l)est 
kind of culture and refinement; there were no 
luxuries but every necessity. In work and play 



138 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

the years went rapidly by until Little Small-Feet 
at length entered college, and the first milestone 
on the road to her ambition was reached. 

At the university Hsie Yin was a great favor- 
ite, for her scholarship, her sense of humor, and 
her quiet dignity made her both popular and re- 
spected. She absorbed and naturally enjoyed 
what was best in literature, art, and music, and 
perhaps it was her ancestry that made her ap- 
preciate the luxurious houses of some of her 
friends, for in them there was more that was akin 
to her early home than in the plainer New Eng- 
land town where she had attended school. Little 
Small-Feet never lost sight of her goal, however, 
and often as she lay on her soft bed, her thoughts 
would wing back to the beggar children of her 
land who were roaming the winter streets clad in 
rags, and she would vow to herself never to allow 
the love of luxury to keep her from devoting her 
life to the outcasts. 

The years flew by, happy and full of interest, 
and with no room in them for thoughts of Creep- 
ing Sin and Old Scarred Face. Why should she 
worry over them when they were thousands of 
miles away? She felt positive that they had for- 
gotten her existence, because her lady's letters 



SMALL-FEET TAKES A JOURNEY 139 

never mentioned them, but were always full of 
plans for the future. 

Two years of college life passed like a breath 
and then Hsie Yin entered the medical school. 
Her shapely fingers seemed formed for no other 
purpose than to perform skillful operations, and 
her quick brain caught a thing in a flash, so that 
she was the joy of her professors and secretly the 
envy of many of the students. Surely at last the 
spell wrought upon her by the spirits of the 
pagoda had passed away! Was it their magic 
that had changed an Oriental princess into a 
modern woman wrapped up in her profession? 
Unfortunately Wang Dah Mah, the authority 
on such matters, was not there to say. 

Once through her medical course, Hsie Yin de- 
cided to take a special course in eye work and 
children's diseases, deferring her return to her 
own land for another year, and during this time 
an event occurred that upset her nerves and 
shook her resolution to return to work in the 
Flowery Kingdom. 

It happened one snowy day, when the winter 
winds were blowing shrilly down the street, that 
Hsie Yin came out from her clinic and stood 
waiting for a street car. The whirling snow had 



140 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

partly covered the tracks and delayed traffic, so 
that she wondered if the cars were running, and 
finally decided to try to walk. The girl's road 
lay past a Chinese laundry where she had fre- 
quently left her collars and cuffs, because she 
liked to encourage her hard-working country- 
men. As Little Small-Feet opened the door of 
the shop, the noise of the storm drowned the 
sound of her entrance and she could see two men 
talking in an inner room, although they did not 
observe her. 

One of the men was clearly her friend, the 
laundryman, and he was listening to his compan- 
ion with great respect and even a little fear. The 
second man was a great contrast to his compan- 
ion; he was clad in rich satin; every hair of his 
long, silky queue was in order and tied with a 
handsome tassel; and his thin, tapering fingers 
wore their nails two inches long. Little Small- 
Feet was about to call for her bundle when the 
stranger turned and she found herself looking 
into the false face and sly, triumphant smile of 
Creeping Sin. 

"I told you I knew that it was she," he ex- 
claimed, in a southern dialect, and started for- 
ward to seize the startled girl. 



SMALL-FEET TAKES A JOURNEY 141 

It was fortunate for Little Small-Feet that 
her doctor's training had taught her to be on the 
alert. She darted quickly forward and out into 
the now bHnding storm, whose wicked wind 
seemed to jeer at her terror as it came rushing 
down the street. Bhnded by the storm and not 
able to hear the swift footstep of her pursuer, she 
struggled on. As she came to the corner a car in 
front of her stopped to let off a passenger, and 
she, not waiting to see which way it went, hurried 
on board. 

It was a very sad and disheartened Hsie Yin 
that dragged her way into her rooms that night. 
After all these years her enemies were still on 
her track, and if she returned to her own land 
how could she hope to be safe? All night long 
the winds howled around the house, seeming to 
mock at her and her ambitions and assuring her 
that she could never hope to carry them out 
against adversaries such as these. 

Early the next day Hsie Yin consulted her 
friends as to what course she ought to pursue and 
the professors in the university took up the case. 
The laundryman was arrested and questioned, 
but all that he could say was : 

"Me not know verry muchee; he heepee bad 



142 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

man. Chinese all hatee. Owes Sam Lee monee. 
Gone now." 

Which was not reassuring at all, but the police 
promised to be on the watch and to arrest anyone 
answering to the description of Creeping Sin. 
But what could be done to him, should he be ar- 
rested, was not very clear, unless he could be 
deported. 

There were many things that were still less 
clear to Hsie Yin. How had Creeping Sin found 
out where she was and what was he planning to 
do? The police seemed to think that he must be 
the head of one of the Chinese secret societies 
which are very mysterious and to which many of 
the Chinese in this country belong. But who 
could tell? 

All the ease and comfort of the past few years 
dropped like a mantle from Little Small-Feet's 
shoulders and her future looked very doubtful. 
Finally she thought of her lady's guardian angels 
and her friend's calmness through the riot, and 
her fears began to subside. There was a force 
that was even greater than Creeping Sin's and 
she must prove it. 

The whole of the following July Hsie Yin 
spent in the baby hospital. The heat seemed like 



SMALL-FEET TAKES A JOURNEY 143 

a heavy blanket but she worked bravely on, up- 
held by the thought of a vacation in August. A 
month was to be spent at the seaside with one of 
her college classmates, in a home where every 
luxury would be provided. As she went down 
the long wards, the thought of the waves splash- 
ing on the shore seemed to give her strength. 
And then at length the happy day arrived and 
she started gayly off in the hope of a holiday free 
from care. 

The place was all that she had dreamed and 
nature and friends seemed to conspire to make 
everything delightful. There were gardens and 
lawns around the house, gardens that were the 
envy of the countryside. Larkspur and phlox 
and every shade of yellow made great splashes 
of color against gray stone walls, and beyond 
the great blue Atlantic rolled. Was it any 
wonder, then, that the back of Hsie Yin's 
dreams were haunted by dim memories of an- 
other garden where lotus and goldfish ponds 
abounded, a garden full of stone lanterns and 
httle winding paths, where poppies danced full 
to hot summer breezes as they did here? In 
vain did the girl's waking thoughts try to vis- 
ualize and name this dream garden, but she 



144) THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

decided that it was only the result of her sleeping 
imaginations. 

As the month slowly passed she felt as if the 
luxury of the palace were sapping her desire for 
work. Each day it seemed harder to think of 
going back to the life of hardship she had marked 
out for herself. How pleasant it would be 
always to live such a care-free existence, away 
from the shadow of Old Scarred Face and 
Creeping Sin. At first Hsie Yin brushed these 
fancies hastily aside, but as time went on they 
persisted and followed her relentlessly. 

One day, after a morning spent in idleness 
over the latest novel, a letter was handed to Little 
Small-Feet. When she had read the first few 
lines, she almost let it fall in amazement, for it 
contained an offer that would make it possible for 
her to remain in this country, away from the 
menace of her old enemies. The offer was truly 
amazing in the light of her nationality and ante- 
cedents, for one of the leading women's medical 
schools was inviting her to become a member of 
their faculty, with the most flattering allusions 
to her work in the past and a truly tempting sal- 
ary. The only person to whom Little Small- 
Feet showed this letter was her college classmate. 



SMALL-FEET TAKES A JOURNEY 145 

"Of course, you will accept an invitation like 
that ; it would be suicidal to throw it aside !" the 
friend exclaimed. 

"But think of all my plans and ambitions ; my 
Great Helpful Lady did not educate me for such 
a position but to help my own countrywomen." 

"Stuff and nonsense," answered her friend; 
"this is a practical age and we must meet it in a 
practical way. Talents such as yours would be 
thrown away in picking up beggar brats and car- 
ing for them." 

"If my lady had felt that way, I should not be 
here," replied Hsie Yin. 

Her friend was silenced a minute but she pro- 
ceeded to the attack: "You have often told me 
that you want to pay back all your friends have 
spent on your education, and that some of them 
are not well off and need the money. If you 
accept this offer you can do it quickly, while the 
other way they may have to wait for years." 

"Yes, but I have a feeling that they would 
rather never see a cent of it than that I should 
forget my own people." 

These arguments nevertheless had great 
weight with Hsie Yin, and although she tried to 
make up her mind that there was no choice and 



146 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

that she must go back, the maskhke face of 
Creeping Sin would come before her eyes and 
her resolution would weaken. 

The August heat seemed to enervate her still 
further and Little Small-Feet felt all her desire 
for achievement gone. She longed for her lady, 
although in her heart of hearts she knew that in a 
case of this kind her friend would not interfere; 
the decision would be left to her own con- 
science. 

"You are a dreamer and so is your lady. How 
much better to stay where you can live a long life 
doing good than be killed in the first year if you 
go back. You surely will be, you know. Besides 
there is plenty to be done in this country," her 
classmate would urge. 

"Suppose you take the course and do it," an- 
swered Hsie Yin, "and I will go back to my 
country and they will never miss me here." 

"I told you that you are a dreamer," her friend 
replied. "Just think what my parents would say 
if I became a doctor. How foolish it would be 
to stop in the middle of my course in interior 
decoration and take up medicine! Why, my 
family would all think me insane !" 

When the girl had left the room, Hsie Yin 



SMALL-FEET TAKES A JOURNEY 147 

thought to herself: "Alice and I do not speak the 
same language, that is very evident. I really 
ought to leave before I accept all her standards." 
But the life of ease was too pleasant for her to 
care to change and as she had no excuse for not 
finishing her visit, Hsie Yin drifted along from 
day to day. 

One evening her friends invited Little Small- 
Feet to go on a moonlight sail. It was a won- 
derful night, with just the right kind of breeze, 
and the rippHng waves laughed along the shore. 
The next morning the answer to the invitation 
from the medical school must be sent, so Hsie 
Yin resolutely refused the sail, determined that 
the hour had arrived when she must make her 
decision. 

After the party had left for the boat, Hsie Yin 
strolled down to the beach and seated herself on 
the sands. The sea and headlands were bathed 
in moonlight, and it would be hard to surpass the 
soft beauty of the scene. But Hsie Yin felt on 
this night that she had no part in all the beauty; 
it hurt though it allured her. In her agony of 
soul, she drove her hands down into the sands 
beaten hard by the surf, unconscious of what she 
was doing, for her thoughts were thousands of 



148 THE BEIJ.S OF THE BUTE PAGODA 



miles away, following the footsteps of a beggar 
child who was toiling over mountain passes or 
begging in dirty city streets, and beside the girl, 
haunting her footsteps, she could see the gaunt 
form of a beggar woman. 

Surely no one could ask her to face such hard- 
ships, such dangers, as her future life would en- 
tail if she returned to her own people. Hsie Yin 
thought of the physical discomforts, the poverty, 
the dirt, and the disease, and above all she heard 
the cries of the mob as they had sounded on the 
night when she and her friend had fled through 
the darkness. Little Small-Feet's familj^ too, 
had desei-ted her ; her foes had hounded her from 
the land. She owed her country and her people 
nothing. Her thoughts told her that she had the 
opportunity of becoming truly famous if she 
should accept this position. There was a chance 
to blaze a trail ; already she had made suggestions 
in the treatment of children's diseases that had 
proved of great benefit. Why stop all this work 
to undertake the perilous task that she had set 
out to do? So ran her thoughts this moonlit 
evening. 

Then stealing over the water came the sound 
of singing from one of the boats : 



SMALL-FEET TAKES A JOURNEY 149 

"By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' eastward to the sea, 
There's a Burma girl a-settin', and I know she thinks 

o' me; 
For the wind is in the palm-trees, and the temple-bells 

they say: 
'Come you back, you British soldier; come you back to 

Mandalay !' 

"Come you back to Mandalay, 
Where the old Flotilla lay ; 
Can't you 'ear their paddles chunkin' from Rangoon to 

Mandalay ? 
On the road to Mandalay, 
Where the flyin'-fishes play, 
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost 

the Bay !" 

Hsie Yin listened, half -heeding, then more at- 
tentively. There was something to be said in the 
favor of the Far East after all, and it was a 
Western poet who said it. Strange, indeed, that 
he should interpret its spirit to this child of the 
Orient. As the music went on she listened still 
more closely, and a big longing surged up within 
her to see the mists on the rice fields again, and 
the groves of feathery bamboo, and to hear the 
song of the coolies as they swing along under 
their heavy burdens. As she half caught the 
words of the song, her thoughts flew to the sum- 
mer she had spent with her lady in the mountains, 



150 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

and a conversation which they had had there one 
evening just at sunset. 

"Are there not many doctors and nurses in 
your so great and noble country?" she remem- 
bered asking her teacher. 

*'Yes, Little Small-Feet, many, many hun- 
dred," her friend had replied. 

"Well, if they studied to be nurses and doctors 
for the sake of helping people, I should think 
they would go where they were needed the most ; 
I know I would," she had responded, and she 
recollected how carefully the lady had explained 
to her that the reason that they did not go was 
because they did not know the need. 

These thoughts, with many others, came surg- 
ing in upon Hsie Yin and made her feel as 
if her own words would condemn her, for if any- 
one knew the needs, she did and here she was 
faltering in her resolution. By this time the song 
was nearly over and Little Small-Feet again 
began to listen : 



'But that's all shove be'ind me — long ago an' fur awaj. 
An' there ain't no 'busses runnin' from the Bank to 

Mandalay ; 
An' I'm learnin' 'ere in London what the ten-year soldier 

tells ; 



SMALL-FEET TAKES A JOURNEY 151 

*If you've 'eard the East a-callin', you won't never 'eed 
naught else/ 
No ! you won't 'eed nothin' else 
But them spicy garlic smells^ 

An' the sunshine an' the palm-trees an' the tinkly 
temple-bells." 

Yes, Hsie Yin heard the East acaUing her, 
but it was with a different voice than that of 
which the British sang; it was the cry of pain and 
anguish, the wail of helpless children and the 
moans of hopeless womanhood. How had she 
been deaf to it for a single moment ! What had 
deadened her sympathy so that she could not see 
her duty? 

Little Small-Feet's struggle was not quite 
over, however. She thought of Old Scarred Face 
and Creeping Sin, of the painful death she might 
be called upon to suffer, and again her courage 
wavered. But once more memory of her lady 
came to her, and the day when they had hidden 
on the wharf. She recalled how she had said to 
her friend, "And are you suffering all this for 
me?" and her lady had rephed, "There was One 
that suffered more than this for me, Little 
Small-Feet." 

Then at length Hsie Yin came to her decision. 
AVhen she thought of Gethsemane and the way 



152 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

of the cross, there could be no shrinking. She 
must respond to the call of the East. 

That night Hsie Yin slept peacefully and in 
her dreams she seemed to hear pagoda bells softly 
swinging back and forth, touched into sweet 
music by the wayward breezes. 

The next morning there came a letter from 
Little Small-Feet's own country telling her that 
the doctor and her old friend were earnestly long- 
ing and expecting her return. Part of the letter 
ran thus : 

"You will be happy to learn that the three of 
us have been appointed to carry on the work at 
'The City of the Blue Pagoda.' You have prob- 
ably never heard of the place, but it is an im- 
portant town two weeks' journey into the in- 
terior. It is rather anti-foreign, so your help will 
be invaluable to us in opening up the work. A 
little start has already been made in a dispensary, 
and the funds are on hand for a men's and a 
women's hospital. We want you to bring all the 
latest wrinkles in hospital buildings and other 
things. We are glad that we are to be sent so 
far away from any place that you have ever seen, 
and that there will be no chance there of meeting 
Old Scarred Face and Creeping Sin who seem 



y 



SMALL-FEET TAKES A JOURNEY 153 

to have completely disappeared. We suggest, 
however, that you keep as quiet as possible in the 
City by the Sea and sail directly for the City of 
the Blue Pagoda without visiting the City Lying 
in the Shadow of Purple Mountain, as we know 
you long to do. It is well to avoid publicity, so 
we have kept these plans to ourselves." 

In a few days Little Small-Feet cabled the 
word, "Coming," to her distant friends, and with 
all her misgivings forgotten, she completed her 
preparations for her life work. 



CHAPTER IX 
THE CITY OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

Low and long forevermore 

Where the Wonder-Wander Sea 
Whispers to the wistful ghore 

Purple songs of mystery^ 
Down the shadowy quay we came — 

Though it liides behind the hill 
You will find it just the same 

And the seamen singing still. 

— Alfred Noyes. 

THERE was much excitement in the Citj^ of 
the Blue Pagoda one clear November day. 
It is amazing how fast rumor flies in a country 
where there are few railroads and very little 
telegraphic communication; it almost seems 
miraculous the way gossip spreads over hill and 
dale into the out-of-the-way corners of the Flow- 
ery Kingdom. It was small wonder that many 
shook their wise heads and said that the spirits of 
the air were very busy this autmnn, and some 
even went so far as to burn an exti-a incense 
stick or two before the household god although 
to many this seemed like a wild extravagance. 

154 



THE CITY OF THE BLUE PAGODA 155 

"Wait until the foreigners really come," they 
exclaimed. "It is foolish waste to spend money 
so freely on rumors brought by boat people." 

"They swear by all they know that the strang- 
ers tried to talk price with them when they were 
at a port on the great river. But they refused to 
betray their native city by bringing barbarians to 
live within its walls. The sum they spoke of was 
large, too; it is not often that we find our boat 
people so worthy." 

"Mark my words, there is something behind it; 
I never knew Lao Weh to refuse an offer where 
he could make a profit. There are doubts in my 
mind whether they talked with him at all."' 

"Well," replied the first woman, "it is an ill 
wind that is blowing over the city to-day. Here 
is Lord Chang returned after many years spent 
away and in an evil temper. Those who owe him 
money need to beware. And now the red-haired 
barbarians are coming also. It looks black in- 
deed ; it will be a cruel winter for the poor. Al- 
though they do say that foreigners have some 
wonderful magic by which they heal the sick. 
That man who had the dispensary opened last 
year cured old Song Sao Tze, who lives down by 
the south gate, of chills. He gave her little white 



156 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

pellets that were very bitter, but she has been 
well ever since. Lord Chang hates the foreign- 
ers and they will not rest here long if he can turn 
them out. He has to walk carefully, however, for 
ever since the Boxer revolution, the Government 
rather frowns on killing foreigners. They say 
that the Empress had to pay a million taels for 
every outlander killed." 

"Lord Chang would think twice before stirring 
up trouble like that," cackled the second woman. 
"They say that every cash he is forced to spend 
takes a day off his life. He would fall dead if he 
should be called on for a million taels, although 
he could easily pay it." 

"Old Wang Dah Mah told me he had to pay 
an enormous ransom for his part in the Boxer 
uprising, and that since then he hates the 'foreign 
devils' more than ever. Here she comes now; 
perhaps she can tell us whether there is any truth 
in these rumors." 

Slowly down the street came Wang Dah Mah, 
looking very little older than when she used to 
crone lullabies over Little Small-Feet. The 
years have passed over her kindly, leaving only a 
few more wrinkles to mark the coming of age. 

After a few polite questions, the woman fell 



THE CITY OF THE BLUE PAGODA 157 

into earnest conversation over the strange news 
they had received that day. 

"I tell Lady Chang," commented Wang Dah 
Mah, "that the pagoda bells should be rung; it 
would be well worth the cash, if we have to pay it 
out of our own pockets. They were not ringing 
when Little Small-Feet was born and ill luck has 
followed the family ever since. True they have 
had a son and he is a fine child, and the crooked 
ways of Lord Chang he will not follow, but de- 
clares that he will go to foreign lands to be edu- 
cated, instead of wisely studying the classics as 
all his ancestors have done. He has been truly 
bewitched, and he and Lord Chang are always 
quarrehng; there is no peace between them. The 
foreigners at the capital have turned the child's 
head; they know so many evil enchantments. 
Lord Chang will have a fit of passion if he hears 
the rumor that the outlanders are coming to this 
city; he brought us all here to get young Lord 
Chang away from their influence." 

"Well, Wang Dah Mah, you speak wisely," 
replied the woman. "The pagoda bells must 
surely be rung for the sake of ourselves and our 
children. But it would take a fortune to keep 
them ringing night and day. We must ask the 



158 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

priest if it will be sufficient to ring them the first 
day the foreigners arrive. Have you seen these 
barbarians yourself, and is it true that they have 
a hole bored in their chest, so that they may be 
carried from place to place by means of a pole 
thrust through their body?" 

"I do not know," replied Wang Dah Mah. 
"For myself, I always keep at a safe distance and 
smell camphor to keep from being bewitched, but 
young Lord Chang says that it is stuff and non- 
sense and that they are made exactly like civilized 
people. He wanted to have a foreign woman 
doctor for his mother's cough, but of course we 
could not hear of it." 

"The world is changing indeed when young 
men will not listen to their elders and are crazy 
for new things," answered the first woman. 

"Yes, the Empress herself," replied Wang 
Dah Mah, "seems to have had her head turned 
and is having her portrait painted by a foreign 
woman artist." 

"Fortunate it is for us, then, that the capital 
lies so many leagues away. The City of the Blue 
Pagoda has always been noted for its hatred of 
new things. The golden age lies in the past and 
what are we to try to improve on it? We must 



THE CITY OF THE BLUE PAGODA 159 

make it too hot for these barbarians; there are 
ways of doing it so that the officials can never 
trace the plotters." 

"Well, for my part," commented the second 
woman, "it makes me feel more kindly toward 
the strangers when I hear that Lord Chang hates 
them so fiercely, for he always hates the good and 
loves the evil." 

"There is nothing good in the ^foreign devils,' 
I can assure you of that," said Wang Dah Mah. 
"I know what I know and have seen what I have 
seen." This very vague condemnation impressed 
her friends mightily, for Wang Dah Mah was the 
only one of the three who had ever been outside 
the walls of the city. All that she knew of the 
foreigners had been gathered from the gossip of 
various yamens; she had never even spoken to 
one, and her prejudice was all the deeper for that 
reason. 

When she returned to the home of Lord 
Chang, she carefully told her mistress all the 
news she had heard and they together agreed that 
the future looked dark. 

"If these foreigners could cure this cough," 
sighed the lady, "I would almost risk their magic; 
my son urges me to try." 



160 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

"Oh, my lady, do not speak such words of ill 
omen! It is enough to bring the evil eye upon 
the household. The medicine our ancestors used 
is surely good enough for us." 

"My son says that the old necromancer is a 
fool and that I shall die before he cures me." 

"The old necromancer is a magician and knows 
exactly what you say at this minute, so do be 
careful, my lady, or it will cost many taels and 
perhaps your very existence." 

"If only," sighed Lady Chang, "I could get 
one glimpse of Little Small-Feet, I would not 
care what became of me." 

"It is also unwise to speak of her — remember 
what the priest in the temple said — although, I 
admit, I very often long for her myself. We are 
two wicked women," and Wang Dah Mah wiped 
her sleeve across her eyes. 

Lady Chang and Wang Dah Mah held this 
discussion in the summer house overlooking the 
river. They were so deeply interested that 
they paid no attention to a houseboat which 
was at that moment turning the bend of the 
stream. A strong wind filled the tawny sails 
and made the ship fairly dance on the waves. 
Upon the deck stood Hsie Yin and her 



THE CITY OF THE BLUE PAGODA 161 

friends, eager for the first glimpse of their 
new home. 

Nature had given a royal setting to the city, 
surrounded as it was with high mountains and 
clothed in bamboo groves and terraced paddy 
fields. As for the town with its high walls, tiled 
roofs, and quaint temples that adorned each 
knoll, and with its pagoda pointing like a taper- 
ing finger skyward, no description could portray 
its Oriental charm. 

''To think that I ever hesitated about coming 
back," Hsie Yin sighed. "I must have been 
bewitched; the lure of the East would have 
haunted me all my days. Just compare the Flat- 
iron Building to that," she continued, pointing to 
the soft colors of the blue pagoda. "Somehow I 
have a feeling that I have seen all this before ; I 
can dimly remember climbing up into a balcony 
like one of those and being chased away by a 
black dog. I suppose it was in some other city, 
though, for when I was with Old Scarred 
Face, we visited hundreds, it seemed to me. 
They are all so dim and far away in my mind 
because I have tried my best to forget that 
time." 

"How the little bells are blowing back and 



162 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

forth in this wind; they seem almost aUve and 
ringing with a purpose!" exclaimed the lady. 

On the other side of the boat stood the doctor 
and his native assistant, a fine, tall man with cul- 
tivated face and manner and the bearing of a 
gentleman. He turned at that moment and 
caught the lady's last remark. 

"That is a good omen for our arrival," he re- 
marked. "It may make all the difference be- 
tween whether we are allowed to stay or are 
driven out. The people have a superstition that 
when the pagoda bells are ringing no evil can 
come to the city, but if any new event happens 
when the bells are quiet, the demons are busy and 
harm will befall. The people of this city, I am 
sorry to say, are very antiforeign and I had 
great difficulty in renting any house. The great 
Lord Chang lives here and he hates the strangers. 
As he has mortgages on a great deal of the prop- 
erty, no one in his power dares to lease land with- 
out his consent. However, I managed to rent 
premises in a high part of the town, where we 
shall not be in danger from the floods. See, it is 
over there!" and he pointed to some buildings 
about half a mile from Lord Chang's residence. 
"It has been used for a small dispensary and hos- 



THE CITY OF THE BLUE PAGODA 163 

pital before and is well suited for our purpose 
until we can build." 

At the name of Lord Chang, the two ladies 
looked at each other aghast. Surely he was the 
man who had crossed on the steamer with them 
and who was intimate with Creeping Sin; and 
they remembered that four years before he had 
become famous all over the world for his part in 
the Boxer movement ! Had they run their heads 
into a hornet's nest? They comforted themselves 
with the fact that Lord Chang had refused to in- 
terfere to save Creeping Sin from deportation at 
the time of their voyage to America, and also 
that the nobleman had lost so much "face" in the 
Boxer troubles that he was scarcely likely to in- 
terfere again with foreigners. 

"We're here and we cannot turn back," said 
the Great Helpful Lady, "so we must see it 
through. I am glad that we have you to counsel 
us. Pastor Meng. We have never forgotten how 
you hid us that day on the hulk when Old Scarred- 
Face led the riot." Pastor Meng had been 
trained as an evangehst because he had shown 
such stanch loyalty to the cause on the occasion 
of the first mob. 

The anchor was finally lowered and a board 



164 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

was laid as a gangplank from the deck to the 
shore. A servant was sent to the city to bring 
chairs for the ladies, while the men busied them- 
selves in collecting coolies to carry the luggage. 
Magic really must exist in the Far East, for at 
the shghtest excitement men seem fairly to rise 
out of the ground. Hardly had the boat neared 
the shore, when one or two ragged boys appeared, 
apparently bent on staring the strangers out of 
countenance. Then a dog and a pig ambled into 
view and an old hag, who had come down to the 
river to do a bit of washing. 

As soon as she saw the passengers, she put her 
hands to her mouth and screamed to a crony in a 
near-by hovel, 

"Hurry up, the foreign devils have come! and 
I cannot tell if they are men or women." 

Two or three wheelbarrow men ran forward 
almost immediately, leaving the loads which they 
were taking to market and pressing down close 
to the edge of the river. By the time the chairs 
had arrived and the strangers could disembark, a 
really formidable crowd had collected and was in- 
creasing every moment; the news, too, was 
spreading through the city like wildfire and they 
felt that the sooner they could get to cover the 



THE CITY OF THE BLUE PAGODA 165 

better. The people were not hostile, only 
vaguely curious, but they were far from compli- 
mentary in their comments. 

One thing puzzled the rabble very much: in 
spite of all the rumors and gossip that had 
reached them, no word had been said of a Chinese 
lady being of the party, so when they saw Hsie 
Yin, they were quite mystified as to her identity. 
The fact that a cultured woman of their own race 
was with the foreigners made a good impression 
and kept the throng from an unfriendly act. It 
never entered their minds that Hsie Yin was a 
woman doctor, although they readily picked out 
the foreign gentleman as a physician. 

"See, he carries a black bag," they whispered. 
"Probably in it are the bones of infants he will 
grind into powder." 

The talking, yelling, and screaming continued 
for some time until at length the cooHes were 
satisfied with the price offered to them and con- 
sented to take up their burdens and start for the 
city. It was an imposing throng and, as it pro- 
ceeded, the procession grew longer and longer. 
Pastor Meng took them through the least fre- 
quented streets, but they were well weary of the 
crowd by the time they reached the wall that sur- 



166 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

rounded their own compound. The gate was 
thrown open with a magnificent gesture by their 
ragged gatekeeper, and with a sigh of relief, they 
heard it swing to behind them. 

At length they had shut out the world with its 
curious eyes and unkind comments, although the 
long night through they could hear the voices of 
the loafers, and knew that many people were 
coming and going, ready at the slightest spark to 
flame into mischief. Until early morning the 
beating of drums could be heard and the flare of 
bonfires seen, and their servants assured them 
that pious souls in the city had paid a large sum 
to the priests to propitiate the evil spirits, who 
might be angered at the approach of barbarians 
into their domain. The stranger never forgets 
the first night he spends in a heathen city, with 
the weird cries and barking dogs and the life of 
the city pulsing around him. 

The new quarters were low native houses built 
around picturesque courts. The quadrangle of 
their home separated the men's and women's 
buildings. These wards opened each on their 
own courts and had separate entrances from the 
street, so that patients need not invade the se- 
clusion of the family. Each tiny hospital had a 



THE CITY OF THE BLUE PAGODA 167 

dispensary and guest room and was absolutely- 
independent of the other, 

"I have engaged a room for a chapel about a li 
away," explained Pastor Meng, "where I will 
preach and have services. It seemed better in 
case of a riot not to have the hospital too near. 
My wife and family are already settled on an- 
other street." 

Pastor Meng, like the good fairy he was, had 
thought of many devices to make them comfort- 
able. He had had wooden floors laid over the 
earthen pavement, and glass put in all the win- 
dows, and some beautiful native furniture, that 
could be bought for a song, installed in the dining 
room. The rest he had left to the ladies to settle. 
There were some things, however, that even the 
skilled hands of Pastor Meng could not do; he 
could not keep the rats from running over the 
ceiling made of bamboo mats, nor the scorpions 
from dropping from the same mats directly on 
the dining-room table. Such incidents are taken 
as a matter of course in the Middle Kingdom. 

The ladies at once went to work to settle the 
house and the hospital, but they were very much 
hampered in this undertaking by a constant 
stream of curious visitors. To avoid the sus- 



168 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

picion of dark deeds, everything must of course 
be open for inspection; one day's reception was 
not enough, it must go on day and night, week in 
and week out, until all were satisfied. Oh, the 
weariness of spirit that comes from answering the 
same question over and over when one wants to 
be putting away stores or tidying up kitchens! 
And, oh, the vast amount of tea that was con- 
sumed — enough, the Great Helpful Lady de- 
clared, to float an ocean steamer! The only 
thought that upheld them was the knowledge 
that allaying suspicion was as necessary a part 
of their work as dressing wounds or nursing 
typhoid patients. 

Until after the Christmas they had no patients 
whatsoever ; distrust was too deeply ingrained for 
that. In fact, only the very poorest and lowest 
of the women would come to them as servants. 
These women, having no reputation to lose, did 
not care what the neighbors said, but the efficient, 
decent amahs kept away from them altogether. 

When the discouragement of it all pressed 
upon them too heavily, they would take chairs 
and go for rides outside the city gates. When 
they were far away from the curious crowds on 
the mountain side, they would leave their chairs 



THE CITY OF THE BLUE PAGODA 169 

and wander up and down the winding paths 
through the groves of bamboo, and rest their 
spirits by drinking in the many varied and en- 
chanting views. They discovered the Temple of 
the Dragon Pool, and the priests, an idle set, but 
with hospitable instincts, would offer them tea 
and allow them to sit by the hour under the shade 
of the willows, and their walks had to be finally 
curtailed because a wild rumor reached them that 
people were saying that the foreigners were hunt- 
ing for gold and hidden treasure, and held con- 
verse with evil spirits in these walks, in the hopes 
that the demons would show them secret stores. 

Hsie Yin's first case was the old woman from 
the south gate, who had been cured of malaria by 
the former doctor. She was so poor and miser- 
able that she scarcely cared if they did cast the 
evil eye upon her. 

She had cut her hand and it was in bad con- 
dition and covered with dirt and rags. When 
Hsie Yin began to dress it, the woman started 
back in surprise. 

"Not you. Miss Hsie Yin, not you! Why you 
are a lady ; let the foreigner do it. It was never 
heard that a Chinese lady should be a doctor; 
that is not our custom." 



170 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

Hsie Yin explained to her that nevertheless 
she had learned to be a doctor because her own 
countrywomen needed good care so much. 

"Is it not more fitting that Chinese women 
should take care of their own sisters than to leave 
it all to the benevolent people of other countries?" 
she asked. 

"There is some truth in that," replied the 
woman; "but are you sure that they have not 
bewitched you and is there no magic in your 
medicine?" 

"None whatever, I swear to you!" replied Hsie 
Yin. "Would I, a loyal Chinese woman, try to 
bewitch my own people? The only magic we use 
is that of love and kindness." 

"That is good magic and better than to acquire 
merit," answered the woman. "Your touch, 
gracious lady, is as light as the thistledown. The 
old quack doctor on our street wanted to burn 
me with red-hot needles, but I like your way 
best." 

The hand began to heal quickly and the 
woman, who, though poor, had a wide circle of 
acquaintances, sang Hsie Yin's praises far and 
wide. It was some time, however, before anyone 
else was bold enough to come, and the winter was 



THE CITY OF THE BLUE PAGODA 171 

nearly gone before Hsie Yin had any patients 
who dared to trust themselves in the ward or 
would consent to an operation. 

Had Hsie Yin's college classmate known of 
these discouragements, she would have nodded 
her head wisely and said: "I told you so. It 
would have been much better to have stayed 
where you were wanted, than to go where 
they do not appreciate you. I call it a winter 
wasted." 

Hsie Yin, however, did not waste time. She 
spent these months of inactivity studying the 
Chinese classics, language, and etiquette, so that 
she might be better able to understand the heart 
of the people. 

The first in-patient was a poor woman blind 
from a cataract, and a comparatively simple 
operation brought back her sight. When the 
bandages were removed and she saw the shape of 
things in the room and Hsie Yin's bright face, 
her joy knew no bounds. 

"Why, Dr. Hsie Yin, you are a lady! I knew 
you had a sweet voice and a light touch but I 
never dreamed you were a lady! Why, you have 
waited on me like a servant!" she exclaimed. 

"I wanted to make you well," replied Hsie 



172 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

Yin, "and I did it because I loved you, Li Sao 
Tze." 

Li Sao Tze was forced to believe her be- 
cause the love shone in every line of Hsie Yin's 
face. 

"I don't understand it," murmured Li Sao 
Tze ; "we Chinese talk of duty and filial piety but 
we do not talk about love, and we do not take 
strangers in and treat them as if they were our 
own blood. I never knew there could be places 
like this hospital. Do not send me away, honor- 
able lady; let me always stay near you!" 

It nearly broke Hsie Yin's heart to have to say 
"No" to the old woman, but the hospital was far 
too small to hold all grateful patients. She 
promised the good soul that she could see her fre- 
quently and occasionally she could do light clean- 
ing at the hospital. 

Hsie Yin's reputation grew and spread from 
the moment that Li Sao Tze returned to her 
home. Her neighbors came crowding in to hear 
of this amazing cure. It was soon abroad 
through the city that a Chinese lady had become 
a doctor and that she could make the blind see. 
The story grew and grew until it was commonly 
reported that both doctors could not only make 



THE CITY OF THE BLUE PAGODA 173 

the blind see, but that they could do it in cases 
where the eyes were gone from the sockets. 

Li Sao Tze would talk to her old friend from 
the south gate, and the women of the neighbor- 
hood would listen open-mouthed to the marvels 
they would tell. 

"Of course, the foreigners are quite mad," 
they would say. "None but crazy people would 
study to be doctors and ask so small a price, but 
it was a glad day for the poor when they came to 
this city. Did Lord Chang ever think of us or 
raise a finger for us? No! Give us these mad 
foreigners every time!" 

The crowd would nod the approval they felt, 
but sometimes one or two would say, 

"Such talk is not safe; if Lord Chang hears, he 
will run you all out of the city." 

Hsie Yin's practice grew apace. Some came 
from real ailments and many more from curios- 
ity, but in some way, by the charm of her man- 
ner and her ready sympathy, she won them all 
and "those who came to scoff remained to pray." 

When the hot summer months came on, the 
friends consulted as to whether they should not 
rent part of the Temple by the Dragon Pool for 
a month and get a little rest and change. The air 



174 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

was very sultry in their compound and the at- 
tendance at the hospitals not quite so large, so 
when August finally arrived, with its dog days 
and its sickening odors, they decided to retreat to 
the mountain side, glad of such a refuge. 

One or two weeks slipped by in idleness or in 
exploring some of the out-of-the-way mountain 
paths. This had to be done with discretion as 
villagers assured them that two tigers had re- 
cently been seen in this vicinity. The doctor al- 
ways carried a revolver and took the lead in these 
excursions, but nothing wilder than a sheep was 
encountered. 

Twice a week the doctor went down to the city 
for a clinic and to keep in touch with the situ- 
ation there. One day at the beginning of the 
third week of their stay, he went down, but at 
evening he did not return as usual. They waited 
until late in the evening, consumed with anxiety. 
Had he met the tiger? Was there a riot in the 
city? The temple was not a safe place for two 
women to remain alone. What should they do? 

Just as they were about to give him up for the 
night, their trusted servant appeared with coolies 
and two chairs. He handed them a note from 
the doctor which read: 



THE CITY OF THE BLUE PAGODA 175 j 

"Cholera has broken out in the city and I can- i 

not leave. Neither is it safe for you to be alone ' 

in the temple overnight. I have sent the chairs ^ 

so that you can return immediately, for we shall j 

need every hand if we are to fight this plague. I • 

have received a pass from the head official, so that ] 

the city gates will be left open and you can enter j 

without trouble. Come as soon as possible!" i 

Cholera in the city! They would rather have | 

met the tiger 1 i 



CHAPTER X 

THE DEADLY PESTILENCE 

The black-barred moon was large and low 
When we came to the Forest of Ancient Woe; 

And over our head the stars were bright. 
But through the forest the path was traveled 
Its phosphorescent aisle unraveled 

In one thin ribbon of dwindling light: 
And twice and thrice on the fainting track 
We paused to listen. The moon grew black. 

But the coolies' faces glimmered white. 
As the wild wood echoed in dreadful chorus 
A laugh that comes horribly hopping o'er us 

Like monstrous frogs thro' the murky night. 

— Alfred Noyes. 

ONE would scarcely choose a tiger-infested 
path in the heart of an unfriendly country 
for a quiet evening ramble, but under the circum- 
stances Hsie Yin and her lady could not hesitate, 
for their duty lay in the city. They gathered 
their few possessions together in great haste, said 
good-by to the priests, and in the course of an 
hour were on the road. 

The coolies were not at all in favor of this ad- 
venture and the doctor had been forced to give 

176 



THE DEADLY PESTILENCE 177 

them twice their regular pay before they would 
consent to leave the town. They very wisely con- 
sidered tiger- and demon-haunted hills a poor 
place to be found after dark. The party had pro- 
ceeded about one li when the men put down the 
chairs and refused to proceed unless more money 
was paid to them. The ladies pleaded in vain; 
the fellows would listen to no arguments and, to 
prove their determination, one man started down 
the path and disappeared into the shadows. 
Those left behind called and hallooed in vain, 
and in order to keep the other bearers, the 
friends were forced to yield. Lao Pong, the 
foreigners' faithful boy, took up the pole that 
the truant had dropped and again they moved 
forward. 

For the first few li a new moon threw a feeble 
light along the path, but later the mists that arose 
from the ponds and lakes hid it completely and 
the bearers had to feel their way along. The 
mountain side was interlaced with many winding 
trails and in the darkness there was grave danger 
that the party would lose its way and be forced 
to spend the night in wandering. The air was 
full of noises that sounded strangely like the 
stealthy footfall of a tiger and the high grasses 



178 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

on either side of their chairs easily might have 
concealed some lurking heast ready to spring on 
its prey. 

After an hour of very slow progress, the com- 
pany reached a group of huts ; here the men pro- 
cured straw torches which were nearly as long as 
themselves. These torches burned brightly, so 
that from that time forward their speed materi- 
ally quickened. The ladies were too deep in 
thought of what might happen in the future to 
pay much heed to their surroundings, but a Kem- 
brandt would have delighted in the scene. The 
lights from the torches threw the figures of the 
coolies and their burdens into high relief, while 
the mists obscured everything but a bit of the 
road ahead. The villages, as they approached, 
would gradually take on shape and the little 
twinkling lights with the bright fire from the 
forge showed the thatched roofs and the quaint 
outlines of the houses, but fortunately failed to 
reveal the prevailing squalor. 

The first glimpse which the friends caught of 
the city made them exclaim with surprise and 
horror, for from many quarters high flames were 
ascending and columns of smoke filled the heated 
air with the smell of burning wood. 



THE DEADLY PESTILENCE 179 

"What has happened? Who has set the town 
on fire?" gasped Hsie Yin to Lao Pong. 

''Those are bonfires to keep away the sickness, 
and they are also burning the clothes of the dead. 
The official has ordered this done on every 
street," he replied. 

"Is the cholera so very bad?" she asked. 

"Very, very bad," he answered. "Every fam- 
ily has its victim." 

As the party drew yet nearer to their home, 
they caught the sound of tom-toms and the beat- 
ing of drums and the boom of the temple bells 
that were to frighten away the demons that 
caused the illness ; added to these noises were the 
wailing of mourners and the moans of the dying. 

Hsie Yin little realized how accustomed she 
was to grow to such sounds in the coming weeks, 
and she only thought to herself, "Surely, this, 
too, is the call of the East." 

When the ladies finally arrived at their com- 
pound, a faint glimmer of what was before them 
began to dawn on their minds. They found 
every available spot in the wards taken, and the 
doctor so busy that he could scarcely take time to 
greet them. Neither of the two women thought 
of sleep although the doctor urged them to 



180 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

snatch a few hours' rest before they began their 
work. 

"It is bound to last a month at least," he as- 
sured them; "I have never known the cholera to 
get such a foothold in so short a time. Last 
week I had a few cases which I did not tell you 
about for fear it would needlessly alarm you. I 
immediately notified the officials, and sent them 
some posters which I had prepared, describing 
how to prevent and treat the disease. I also 
asked the officials to forbid the sale of melons 
and all unripe fruit, and not to allow the people 
from this city to trade with other near-by towns 
or villages. The head Tao Tai [official] has con- 
sented to the notices' being posted on the city 
gates, but as for stopping the sale of fruit, that 
would ruin the fruit-sellers' trade and could not 
be thought of. The restriction of traffic was an- 
other foohsh foreign notion; the outside places 
must look out for themselves." 

A strenuous time now began for those in 
charge of the hospital. They had scarcely time 
to eat and sleep, and for whole days together 
they could not undress but threw themselves on 
their beds to catch just enough repose to keep 
them ahve. Many cases were saved by means of 



THE DEADLY PESTILENCE 181 

a remedy which had been recently discovered but 
which took much time and strength to admin- 
ister. In this way patients coming to them in a 
state of collapse were brought back to life. The 
fame of the two doctors spread like wildfire 
through the city, and as a result the streets lead- 
ing to the hospital were choked with the litters 
of the sick. 

The epidemic made no distinctions as to rank ; 
rich and poor alike were stricken. Beautifully 
embroidered coats were no protection, and some 
of the ladies who had graced Little Small-Feet's 
first birthday party were among the afflicted. 
These women were too prejudiced against any- 
thing foreign to call in the doctors, so there was 
no hope of cure for them. 

Lord Chang was panic-stricken and would 
have gone from the city, but as the epidemic 
raged throughout the country there was no hope 
of safety anywhere. He therefore shut himself 
up in the men's court, and refused to take any of 
the precautions suggested by the posters, but 
spent his days in holding camphor to his nose in 
the approved Chinese fashion. 

One day when the disease was at its worst, 
Wang Dah Mah fell ill and there was no mis- 



182 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

taking her symptoms. News of it was brought 
to her worthy master and he turned white with 
anger to think that the illness should have had 
the presumption to enter the noble palace of the 
Changs and endanger his precious life. He im- 
mediately ordered that the amah should be turned 
out on the street. Lady Chang, who was more 
humane, spent an hour in entreaty, but he was 
obdurate. 

"You are beside yourself," he answered. 
"Shall we allow misfortune to follow us by per- 
mitting a servant to die in our house ? You know 
the customs of the family; what our fathers did 
so we must do ; on the streets she must go !" 

"The customs of the family of Changs have 
always been very cruel,*' thought Lady Chang to 
herself, but she was forced to submit. 

Lord Chang, however, had reckoned without 
his son who, when he heard what his father had 
done, was very angry. He thought of the faith- 
ful service Wang Dah Mah had rendered the 
family these many years, and his heart burned 
within him. Was she to be rewarded in such a 
manner? Not if he could do anything to prevent 
it! He ordered bearers and had his old nurse 
gently lifted from the street, where she lay in 



THE DEADLY PESTILENCE 183 

agony, and had her carried to the foreign hos- 
pital. The shades of all the ancestors of young 
Lord Chang must have turned over, each in his 
appointed place, at this act, for it was not the 
custom of the Changs to show benevolence. 

Wang Dah Mah was too far gone to care 
where she was taken, or she might even then have 
raised a protest. Fortunately for her, the name 
of Lord Chang had such power that everything 
in the street gave way to her coolies, and before 
many minutes elapsed she was taken to the 
woman's ward and was undergoing the necessary 
treatment, and in the course of a few hours she 
began to improve and to take in her surround- 
ings. Hsie Yin was too busy to pay particular 
attention to any one patient and so it happened 
that Wang Dah Mah had sized the young doctor 
up long before Little Small-Feet had noticed her 
old nurse. The amah's impression of the hospital 
was much Kke that which Little Small-Feet had 
received in the City Lying in the Shadow of Pur- 
ple Mountain. The cleanliness was of course 
most surprising and also the discipline, but to 
Wang Dah Mah, fresh from a palace, it seemed 
a trifle bare. She could not get over her surprise 
that a Chinese lady would do for her the little 



184 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

services that Little Small-Feet was continually 
performing; it certainly was not fitting, and yet 
the doctor acted with so much grace that she did 
not seem to lose dignity. 

After old Wang Dah Mah had been under 
treatment for a few days, she was able to sit up, 
and it was then that Hsie Yin began to notice her 
more closely. Wang Dah Mah was so very re- 
spectable and of such a different type from the 
other patients that Hsie Yin's curiosity was 
aroused. 

"May I ask your honorable name, and where 
you are from?" Little Small-Feet inquired one 
morning. 

"My unworthy name is Wang," answered 
Wang Dah Mah, "and I come from the house of 
Lol-d Chang." 

Secretly pleased at being noticed by the busy 
young doctor, the woman was bright enough to 
realize that had it not been for those clever hands 
her earthly hf e would have ended in a city street, 
so her old prejudices were flying fast. Hsie Yin 
started at the name of Chang, remembering how 
Lord Chang and Creepmg Sin had kept to- 
gether on the steamer. Could this woman be a 
spy of Old Scarred Face? 



THE DEADLY PESTILENCE 185 

"Do you know a man by the name of Creeping 
Sin and a beggar called Old Scarred Face?" she 
asked of her patient. 

"It is not the custom of respectable people to 
know such characters," answered Wang Dah 
Mah much offended. The Chinese lady could 
not be so lovely after all if she spoke of beggars. 

Little Small-Feet saw that she had made a 
mistake; this worthy old woman evidently knew 
nothing of Lord Chang's relationship with 
Creeping Sin, and the girl drew a sigh of relief. 

"Wang Dah Mah is a beautiful name," Little 
Small-Feet continued; "I have always loved that 
name for some reason." 

This statement mollified Wang Dah Mah and, 
as the days went by, her heart warmed more and 
more to Hsie Yin and she would sing her praises 
to the other patients. 

"Yes, the foreigner is lovely and has the ways 
of a virtuous woman, as you say, but give me the 
little doctor; she comes from our own country 
and knows our customs and see how clever she is ! 
Even the coolies respect her and do as she bids ; 
she is the person for me. But what makes her do 
all this when she might be married and have an 
honorable husband and sons that would carry on 



186 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

her name? I must learn more of this doctrine 
they are always talking about, and see if it will 
tell me. It has something to do with love, I 
know, and to love is certainly an excellent thing. 
I loved Little Small-Feet but she was taken away 
by evil spirits and that was bad." 

Wang Dah Mah was true to her word and set 
herself zealously to work to learn the secret that 
had made Hsie Yin and her lady lead a life of 
sacrifice. The amah attended all the services in 
the chapel and the prayers in the ward, for by 
this time she was able to walk about, and her 
mind must have been the good ground told of in 
the parable, for in an incredibly short time she 
accepted the teaching. 

"It's bound to be true if Dong Hsiao Dje [Dr. 
Dong] says so, and I know that she is right, be- 
cause the story rests my heart," Wang Dah Mah 
often exclaimed. "The kind deeds they do is all 
the proof I need." 

When the amah told the story of how Lord 
Chang had had her turned into the street, her 
friends felt that for the present at least it would 
be impossible for her to return to the palace. At 
first they suggested that she should stay with 
some relatives until the scare about the cholera 



THE DEADLY PESTILENCE 187 

had blown over, but Wang Dah Mah pleaded so 
earnestly to be allowed to help with the nursing 
that it was decided that she should remain as 
matron of the hospital. A person of her respect- 
ability would give the foreigners "face" with the 
better class of patients as nothing else could do. 

It was quite amazing how soon Wang Dah 
Mah made herself indispensable, for there seemed 
a peculiar bond between her and Hsie Yin that 
made them understand each other by a look or a 
gesture and the devotion of the amah to the 
young doctor was pretty to see. 

"Wang Dah Mah, I must teach you to read," 
said Hsie Yin one day when the rush of patients 
had stopped a little. 

"Teach me to read, Dong Hsiao Dje? But 
that is impossible; I am too old," replied the be- 
wildered Wang Dah Mah. 

"Older people than you have done it long 
before now," returned her friend. "Would you 
not like to read for yourself the gracious story of 
the Master healing the sick with a touch of the 
hand?" 

"Oh, yes, and the way he praised the humble 
women who served him. Do you think he could 
ever say such words to a person like me, who has 



188 THE BELL S OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

I T 1—1 

only begun to try so late in life?" asked the good 
soul. 

"Indeed he will, for you are not the one to 
blame; you did not know," answered Hsie Yin. 

"If it had not been for the cholera, I would 
not know now Dong Hsiao Dje." 

The old woman's face fairly shone with joy at 
the new hope that had dawned in her life, and as 
she watched her expression, Hsie Yin thought 
with a pang how nearly she had missed this 
moment by accepting a position in another land. 
She also remembered the number of people who 
would have died that summer, had she not been 
there to help. The sacrifice had paid already. 
Oh, how it had paid! 

From that time forward, whenever there was a 
spare moment, Wang Dah Mah might be seen 
poring over a book, her mouth screwed up into 
strange shapes as a laborious finger pointed to 
each quaint character. As she went about her 
work she would be heard croning to herself, very 
much off the key, the Chinese version of "Jesus 
Loves Me." 

In this manner life at the hospital went on, 
and Hsie Yin and her friends were happy and 
busy and utterly unconscious of a small cloud, a 



THE DEADLY PESTILENCE 189 

very small cloud, that was coming up on the 
horizon; but small clouds sometime portend a 
hurricane. 

The epidemic was waning and people who had 
been busy caring for the sick now had time to 
talk and wonder and spread rumors. There 
were two recent arrivals in the city who were 
aware of this fact and aching to take advantage 
of it for their own evil designs. These two people 
were of course Creeping Sin and Old Scarred 
Face, who through their network of spies had 
learned of Little Small-Feet's presence at the 
hospital. Nothing could have equaled the 
worthy pair's satisfaction at this information. It 
was beyond belief that the three people whom 
they had hunted so long should be in this inland 
city, far from the protection of other foreigners. 
Had they been in the north, it would have been 
different ; a punitive expedition might have been 
sent; but here the accomplices could escape long 
before the news of trouble could reach the City 
by the Sea. There was plenty of time to lay their 
plots; they must work slowly and carefully and 
have the plan in perfect order before they at- 
tempted to act. 

The news that young Lord Chang had taken 



190 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

the amah to the hospital without his father's con- 
sent, and that the young man had been several 
times in the company of the foreign doctor, 
furthered their hopes of getting Lord Chang in- 
terested in their schemes. Many a night Old 
Scarred Face spent in the Spider's den in close 
conference with Creeping Sin. The net that had 
been spread for years was to be drawn around 
the victim at last. 

As for Lord Chang, he had grown very weary 
of his enforced isolation in his palace and one day 
when he received an invitation to a feast from one 
of his most disreputable acquaintances, he de- 
cided that here wa« an opportunity to relieve his 
boredom. 

The feast proceeded with the usual formalities 
and observances of etiquette and the conversation 
was general, but during one of the courses, while 
the other guests were deep in a discussion, Lord 
Chang's next neighbor whispered to him : 

"Creeping Sin has returned to the city, and he 
has a scheme he wants to lay before your high- 
ness, that he thinks will be of great profit. He 
will meet you in a place you know of to-morrow 
evening." 

Lord Chang, without changing a muscle of his 



THE DEADLY PESTILENCE 191 

face to show that he had heard, continued dain- 
tily helping himself to a delicate piece of sea slug. 
This fellow must not think that he, the great 
Lord Chang, cared one snap of a finger for 
Creeping Sin and his message. 

At this minute a hush fell on the company, so 
no reply could be made and the feast continued 
to its end without Lord Chang's speaking again 
to his neighbor. 

The whole of the next day Lord Chang was in 
two minds about accepting Creeping Sin's invi- 
tation. "The man is getting too impudent," he 
thought, "these affairs should be arranged by go- 
betweens." Still he remembered there were some 
things too delicate to arrange by such agents; 
the fewer the people involved in them, the less 
danger there was of being caught. 

In the* evening, therefore, he ordered his chair 
and was carried away. Creeping Sin was too 
wily to invite a man of Lord Chang's position 
into the den where he had received Old Scarred 
Face. He had many haunts throughout the city, 
and he met no two people in the same place. The 
nobleman found his host ready and waiting, and 
the sly man was all obsequiousness and courtesy. 
There was in his cringing manner that which 



192 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

would have revolted anyone kss vain than Lord 
Chang, but to him such treatment was as the 
breath of life. The sweetmeats were of the most 
delicate flavor and the tea had just been brought 
the day before from the banks of the river Han. 

A full hour was consumed in polite nothings 
and gossip of the city, and not until the opium 
pipes were brought out and the men began to 
feel its soothing effects did Creeping Sin turn the 
conversation toward his object. He first sug- 
gested that he wished to borrow money for a 
friend, and after much bargaining offered such a 
high rate of interest that Lord Chang was in a 
great good humor. Then very carefully he 
engineered the conversation to the subject of the 
foreigners and their work in the city. 

"I feel myself far too unworthy to make sug- 
gestions to your highness, but the proverb says 
that 'where the prince leads the people follow,' 
and perhaps if some plan was put on foot, we 
could drive these barbarians away." 

"Meddling with foreigners is bad for the 
health," replied Lord Chang, thinking how heav- 
ily his pocketbook had suffered on account of the 
Boxer movement. 

'*Your excellency's wisdom is broader than the 



TUlE deadly pestilence 193 

ocean, yet we all realize that 'strict fathers make 
filial sons.' It is widely known through the city 
that the young lord, your noble son, has been seen 
with the foreign doctor; in fact he is frequently 
at the hospital and Wang Dah Mah, the old 
amah, was treated there for cholera. Does it 
seem strange that the impression is being spread 
that you are smiling on the foreigners with your 
august favors?" As he asked this question, 
Creeping Sin watched Lord Chang very keenly. 

Needless to say no such impression was 
abroad; the relations between Lord Chang and 
his son were very well known in the city, and the 
fact that Wang Dah Mah had been turned out 
in the street pretty widely discussed. Lord 
Chang heard this news with not a change of fea- 
ture but he nearly bit the stem of his pipe 
through in his rage. What was the world coming 
to, that sons were thwarting their fathers behind 
their backs? 

"These rumors are new to me, but if they are 
correct, something must be done. What would 
you suggest? If what I hear is true, you are not 
wanting in resources. Why do you come to 
me?" Lord Chang rephed. 

" 'Where the prince leads the people follow' 



194 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

was ever a wise proverb. Lord Chang's reputa- 
tion is not bounded by the seas; he is known to 
the ends of the earth." Creeping Sin's compH- 
ment was not idle, for Lord Chang's name had 
been discussed in every cabinet in Europe and 
America at the time of the Boxer uprising. 

"Names are not safe tools to use," replied the 
nobleman with a threatening scowl. "There are 
others beside mine that are well known." 

"Your wisdom is as deep and wide as the 
Pacific Ocean; discretion is always the wisest 
course; it is easy enough to start a rumor of 
poisoned wells and strange incantations. A little 
cash wisely spent oils the wheels in such cases, 
and this time the barbarians must be extermi- 
nated; no halfway measures ever drive out ver- 
min. It would be worth the price to hire men to 
do it." 

"My purse is as clean as though it had been 
washed; I could contribute only what is a patch 
under the armpit to complete a whole jacket," 
answered Lord Chang. "How much is desired?" 

"Your excellency is generous, as always," 
responded Creeping Sin with a ceremonious 
bow. 

For the remainder of the evening, the two con- 



THE DEADLY PESTILENCE 195 

spirators haggled over "price" and who should 
hire the assassins. Creeping Sin wished the 
nobleman to do the negotiating with the crim- 
inals, hoping in this way to get him more deeply 
involved in the affair, but he was unsuccessful 
and was forced to be contented with Lord 
Chang's offer to contribute part of the bribe. 

"I will have some hidden witnesses when he 
pays the money; it will amount to the same 
thing," thought the Spider. 

The final farewells were said and the guest 
bowed out, and then Creeping Sin clapped his 
hands, and from an inner apartment Old Scarred 
Face and a man appeared. 

"Well, old hag, you have heard the talk, are 
you satisfied with the result?" asked Creeping 
Sin with his slanting look and horrid grin. 

"May all our enemies be as much in our power 
as that purse-proud lord!" she answered. 

The night was passed by the trio in completing 
the plot and hiring their accompHces; for thor- 
oughness of detail, nothing could surpass the 
combined powers of Old Scarred Face and 
Creeping Sin. They were absolutely certain 
that this time no earthly power should balk them 
of their prey. 



CHAPTER XI 

"THE TERROR BY NIGHT" 

Be a good soldier, and a guardian just; 
Likewise an upright judge. Let no one thrust 
You in a dubious cause to testify 
Through fear of tyrant's vengeance to a lie. 
Count it is baseness if your soul prefer 
Safety above what honor asks of her ! 
And hold it manly, life itself to give. 
Rather than lose the things for which we live. 
— Eighth Satire of Juvenal, 
Translated by Henry van Dyke. 

WHEN the bright, sunny days and cool, 
bracing nights of autumn came, the epi- 
demic began to subside throughout the city and 
the citizens resumed their everyday occupations. 
There were many gaps among them, however, 
and scores of new graves to be wailed over out on 
the hillside. 

The tide of prejudice which had set so strongly 
against the foreigners had now turned and ran 
the other way, and the hospital received many 
presents of long lacquered boards, covered with 
highly complimentary characters, to hang in its 

196 



"THE TERROR BY NIGHT" 197 

reception room. The Sunday services in the 
street chapels were crowded and the wards and 
cHnics were also full of patients suffering from 
the most unusual complaints. 

"Their suspicions have been overcome at last!" 
exclaimed Little Small-Feet joyfully. "In the 
street I am always treated with respect. They 
have found out, as you did, that foreign ways are 
kind. Have they not, Wang Dah Mah?" 

"Yes, Dong Hsiao Dje, I have learned many 
things and I am ashamed to think how small my 
heart was when I first found myself within these 
walls. But all is not so pleasant as you think; 
no good ever comes to foreigners in a city where 
Lord Chang resides. I wish the young Lord 
Chang would be discreet; if it comes to his 
father's ears how he haunts the foreign doctor, 
you may all be turned out from the city. Be- 
ware a serpent or a tiger " warned Wang Dah 
Mah. 

"He should be more careful," the girl rephed, 
"but the doctor teaches him many things he longs 
to know, and he is so much safer here than among 
the temptations in his father's palace; it seems 
impossible to ask him to stay away." 

"If he loses his hfe and yours, too, it may be a 



198 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

mistaken kindness to allow him to come," Wang 
Dah Mah insisted. 

"How about yourself, Wang Dah Mah? Is 
Lord Chang overjoyed to have you here?" in- 
quired Hsie Yin. 

"I have been forbidden ever to cross the 
threshold of his house again; I am sorry, for I 
want to tell my mistress about the gracious mes- 
sage of peace for the weary, and she needs it, for 
these are stormy days in the house of Chang," 
and with a deep sigh Wang Dah Mah returned 
to her book. 

At about the same hour when Hsie Yin was 
talking so hopefully, a group of the city women 
were down at the river's bank doing their family 
washing. Their stooping posture did not seem to 
make it necessary for them to hold their tongues, 
and they discussed with relish every morsel of 
gossip they had heard that day. They were so 
engrossed with their conversation that they did 
not hear a water coolie stop beside them until he 
began to fill his buckets. 

"Do you draw water from the river, when that 
from the city wells is so much cooler?" asked a 
woman greatly surprised. 

"I dare not use those springs for the ^foreign 



"THE TERROR BY NIGHT" 199 

devils' have poisoned them and caused the sick- 
ness," he replied. 

"Poisoned our wells!" the women exclaimed in 
chorus. "What tale is this you bring?" 

"No tale at all but the very truth; I heard it 
from the mouth of the man whose neighbor's 
first cousin saw them do it." 

Here was news, indeed, of a variety that 
would make a fine stir! Life was growing mo- 
notonous; now there would be something to dis- 
cuss in the courtyards of an afternoon. Poor old 
Li Sao Tze, the blind woman who had been cured 
by Hsie Yin, was the only one to doubt it. 

"There must be some mistake," she cried; "the 
foreigners are benevolent ; they would not do such 
a dreadful thing ! I ought to know for they gave 
me back my sight. They were away when the 
sickness came; how could they have brought it? 
They tried to cure those who were ill. It would 
be a foolish thing to take the trouble to poison 
people and then make them well! Dui Sao Tze, 
they raised your son from the dead, how can you 
beHeve these idle stories?" 

"Who can explain the ways of ^foreign dev- 
ils' !" the man retorted. "Our priests all say that 
we meddle with them at our own risks. In the 



200 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

dead of night the foreign doctor was seen to 
throw a fine gray powder into the well, at which 
a smoke, smelling strongly of brimstone, arose 
and hid the spot. The people ran to the place 
but all that they could see was the well, looking 
much as usual, but from the rear of some houses 
came a dreadful laugh and the earth shook at the 
sound. The next day the illness broke out and 
of course nothing could stop it until the demons 
had chosen whom they would to accompany them 
into the shades. The officials did what they could 
and had the south gate shut for a month, when it 
was most inconvenient, to keep the heat out as it 
came up from the south and to prevent it from 
entering the city, but closing city gates has no 
effect after the demons have gotten in." 

"We remember that the city gates were shut, 
and it was as he says, the heat grew hotter and 
hotter and greater and greater until our very 
flesh dried up, and the. sickness increased with 
the heat. It is more than plain, the officials did 
their duty, but what chance had they against the 
wily barbarians?" continued Li Sao Tze's neigh- 
bor, who had been rather jealous of the blind 
woman's famous cure. 

Having told his story, the man took up his 



"THE TERROR BY NIGHT" 201 

water buckets and returned to the city, stopping 
here and there to recount his gossip. The rumor 
spread with amazing rapidity, and as it spread 
the story grew and the feeling against the for- 
eigners grew with it. The patients who had been 
at the hospital did their best to stop slanderous 
tongues, but they were a mere handful compared 
to the ignorant multitude. 

The City of the Blue Pagoda had the reputa- 
tion of being the most conservative town in the 
whole of the Empire. A dragon was reported to 
lie buried in a high mound outside the great walls. 
Several hundred years ago a series of earthquake 
shocks had made it apparent that although the 
monster was properly interred he was not really 
dead, and that he had grown restless where he 
lay. The blue pagoda was therefore built on the 
top of the grave to keep the creature as quiet as 
possible. This clever scheme had been highly 
successful, as the oldest living inhabitant could 
tell, and the dragon moved now only at rare in- 
tervals when some occurrence in the city did not 
please him. Unfortunately, at this moment he 
chose to give a shake, and his activity was the 
final event which threw the suspicious people into 
a panic. It was not a vicious jar; it might have 



202 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

been termed a gentle hint ; but the rough element 
in the city were in a mood to heed a very gentle 
hint. 

The ladies themselves were too busy to pay 
attention to the vague rumors Wang Dah Mah 
brought to them. There is always gossip and 
prejudice in a Chinese community, and if for- 
eigners stopped work every time they heard an 
uncompHmentary report, there would be little 
accomplished. They did observe, however, that 
there was a great falling off in the attendance at 
the hospital and the street services were nearly 
deserted, but they were philosophical about it, for 
they reahzed that popularity is a fickle dame. 

The night of the earthquake they hardly felt 
the tremor, for there were several very ill patients 
in the ward and a serious operation was proceed- 
ing. Wang Dah Mah noticed the tremble with 
much misgiving and spent a restless, unhappy 
night. 

When one lies awake in the darkness, fears 
seem very wise, indeed, but when a clear autumn 
sun shines on us, the apprehensions seem needless 
and silly. Wang Dah Mah arose the next day 
with the firm intention of persuading her friends 
to leave the vicinity for a time, but everything 



"THE TERROR BY NIGHT" 203 

looked so bright and cheerful and Hsie Yin 
greeted her with such careless gayety that she 
chided herself for having these forebodings. 

"It would be sad indeed for me if the foreign- 
ers went away," she thought. 

As the hours passed on, both the doctors were 
called out to visit patients on the other side of the 
city. Hsie Yin felt that by this time it was safe 
to go without an escort, and started forth in her 
chair with her usual bearers. She perceived, 
however, that when she gave her orders to the 
coolies, they laughed in her face in a disrespect- 
ful manner, and murmured to themselves a word 
that sounded like "friend of the foreign devil." 
On her way home some little street gamins threw 
stones at her and when she told the bearers to go 
faster, they only went more slowly. Looking 
through the window at the back of her chair, she 
saw a small crowd collecting and their looks were 
black indeed. Among the number was Dui Sao 
Tze and one or two other women whom she recog- 
nized. The young doctor insisted that the men 
halt and, stepping down from her chair, she 
turned and faced the rabble. 

"Dui Sao Tze, what are you doing here?" she 
exclaimed in a stern voice. "Is this the manner 



204 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

I ■ I 

of gratitude taught by the sages? Do you not 
know that your son would be a dead man to-day 
if it had not been for the hospital? Does he 
know where you are?" 

Dui Sao Tze looked ashamed: "The gods are 
angry at you. They sent the earthquake to show 
their displeasure that we have allowed 'foreign 
devils' to dwell among us." 

"Have you no understanding? If the gods, as 
you believe, take note of what is going on around 
them, they are probably angry at the ungrateful 
way you are treating the people who tried to help 
you when you were ill!" Hsie Yin replied. "Did 
it ever strike you that your gods disapproved of 
the way you listened to the evil counsels of Old 
Scarred Face and Creeping Sin?" 

This struck home and the more respectable of 
the people turned away and disappeared in 
various directions. 

"She has spoken wisely," said an old woman in 
the front; "Old Scarred Face never did a kind 
deed in her life; her ways are always evil." 

Hsie Yin had made a happy guess when she 
spoke of Old Scarred Face, for Wang Dah Mah, 
who knew little of Hsie Yin's history, had failed 
to mention the fact of the beggar's return. 



"THE TERROR BY NIGHT" 205 

The crowd having dispersed, Hsie Yin climbed 
into her chair and was carried by her subdued 
cooHes to the hospital. She found on her arrival 
that the foreign doctor had returned after a very- 
similar experience, but he had not been able to 
throw off the crowd of rowdies and they had fol- 
lowed him to the very gate of the hospital. 
Pastor Meng had come and he and Wang Dah 
Mah both looked very anxious. 

"This earthquake is most unfortunate; the 
people are always restless and apprehensive at 
such times, and Old Scarred Face is at work; we 
may always look for trouble when she is near. I 
think that it would be wiser for all of you to slip 
quietly out of the city after nightfall and take 
refuge in the mountains until the trouble passes 
over," said Pastor Meng. 

"What he says is wise and sensible," affirmed 
Wang Dah Mah. "It is the only thing 
to do." 

"Could we not send to the yamen for a guard?" 
asked the Great Helpful Lady. "If there is a 
riot, it may get the Tao Tai into trouble and he 
will lose his position." 

"Unfortunately he is in the power of Lord 
Chang, but perhaps it would be as well. It 



206 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

would make them both responsible for an upris- 
ing," said Pastor Meng. 

"I do not see how we can leave," faltered Hsie 
Yin. "Think of the two women we operated on 
last night; they will die if they do not have 
proper care." 

"Tell me what to do, Dong Hsiao Dje!" 
pleaded Wang Dah Mah. "No one is looking 
for me, and my fingers are not so clumsy but 
what I can keep the wounds dressed." 

Then the conference closed and very calmly, 
as though no storm was brewing, they all went 
about their particular duties. The soldiers were 
sent for, and the official who kept the city gates 
was paid to keep the nearest gate open until after 
midnight. It was decided that late in the evening 
they would slip away through a gate in the rear 
of the compound. 

"I would never consider doing such a thing," 
said the foreign doctor, "if I didn't feel that we 
should imperil the lives of our helpers by remain- 
ing. Pastor Meng would never think of his own 
safety and would stick to us until the bitter end. 
What makes the matter more serious is the fact 
that I feel certain that Creeping Sin and Old 
Scarred Face are at the bottom of the trouble. 



"THE TERROR BY NIGHT" 207 

We know from past experience how absolutely 
unscrupulous they are and to what methods they 
resort." 

The dragon under the blue pagoda seemed to 
have joined in the popular feehng against the 
foreigners, for late in the afternoon there came a 
rumble and then a roar and the city was shaken 
to its very foundations. Tiles fell from roofs 
and plaster walls crumbled hke paper. The 
wonder was that many people were not killed; 
although a number were cut by flying debris, one 
small boy was the only victim. Excitement rose 
to fever heat all over the town, and neighbors ran 
to the parents of the dead child and told them 
that all their children would suffer the same fate 
if the foreigners were not driven out. 

"The dragon," cried the coolie, "is very angry 
at our delay ; we have been too kind-hearted and 
we must suffer for it." 

As night began to fall the temper of the people 
grew more ugly, and a murmur like that of an 
angry beehive arose from many streets, i^t 
seven Pastor Meng hastened to the hospital. 

"There is no use in waiting; there will be no 
quiet in the city to-night. You had better get 
away at once. The back gate is watched, but our 



208 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

next neighbors have been friendly ever since you 
cured the wife. They say that you may cUmb 
over the wall into their garden and escape 
through the side door that opens on a side street. 
You must all put on Chinese garments and as 
you love your life do not speak 1" 

"Pastor Meng, do leave us at once. We can 
take care of ourselves, and you must remember 
your wife and family. We have persuaded 
Wang Dah Mah to visit friends, for with her 
bound feet she could not stand the walking. Do 
go while there is time!" pleaded the Great Help- 
ful Lady. 

"The patients have all been taken away by 
their relatives and that is a very bad sign. My 
family went this afternoon, and as for myself I 
could not leave the best friends I have in the 
world to the mercy of the mob. That is not the 
way I learned the doctrine. Anyway it is now 
too late. Listen!" answered Pastor Meng. 

As he finished speaking there was a great 
pounding on the front gate and a sound of cat- 
calls and curses. The crowd had stolen forward 
quietly on their cloth shoes in order to make a 
surprise attack, and now the street at the front 
of the compound was seething with people. 



"THE TERROR BY NIGHT" 209 

"Quickly! Quickly! Quickly go! Take the 
ladder and climb the wall and I will hide it!" ex- 
claimed the evangelist. 

At that moment Lao Pong, the faithful serv- 
ant, appeared. He had been absent all day and 
they thought that he had run away, but now he 
adjusted the ladder and assisted the ladies to 
chmb the wall, while the kindly neighbor helped 
them on the other side. Then Lao Pong let the 
ladder down to the waiting Meng Sien Sung and 
followed the foreigners. 

"I came back because I thought you might 
need me," he explained. "At first I thought I 
would seek a safe place but afterwards I knew 
that was showing a poor disposition, so here 
I am." 

Instead of accompanying the others. Pastor 
Meng deliberately hid the ladder and then turned 
toward the compound gateway. 

"If I can keep the crowd talking, it will give 
them a better chance to escape," he thought. 

At that moment the first of the mob burst 
through the gate and the yelling, hooting rabble 
rushed into the compound. 

"What are you doing here?" Pastor Meng 
boldly said to the ringleaders. "Are you not 



210 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

afraid to molest foreign property? Remember 
the Boxer movement and the taxes we are paying 
at this moment on account of it; everything 
destroyed may have to be returned. Then there 
will be no rice in your bowls." He noticed as he 
spoke that the soldiers from the yamen were 
mingled with the others and he knew then that 
the matter was very serious. 

The crowd seemed a little abashed and fell 
back a moment at the preacher's courageous 
words. 

"He seems to speak with reason," said a few 
of the better class, who, carried away by the ex- 
citement caused by the earthquake, had joined 
the tumult. 

"Remember the dead child; we shall all be like 
him if we let the foreigners remain," shouted a 
voice in the rear that had the accents of Old 
Scarred Face. "Clear the foreigners out; death 
to the foreigners, I say!" 

Other voices took up the cry and rushed 
through the hospital. If Pastor Meng had been 
one whit less brave, he would have slipped away 
in the confusion, but he thought only of saving 
the compound from burning. He therefore went 
with the others and watched the looting of the 



"THE TERROR BY NIGHT" 211 

houses. Every inch of ground was searched but 
no trace of the foreigners could be found; then, 
fairly foaming with disappointment, the leaders 
turned on the evangelist. 

"Where are the foreigners gone? They must 
have flown through the air by their enchantments 
for we had both gates watched!" 

"If you think them as clever as that I do not 
see why you ever hoped to catch them," retorted 
Pastor Meng, for every minute he could keep the 
mob in the compound might mean life to his 
friends. "I should think you would be afraid to 
meddle with people who could go and come un- 
seen. It does not seem very safe." 

"The man knows where they are and he is try- 
ing to keep us from finding them," yelled the 
water coolie. "If we hang him to the doorpost, 
he will tell quite enough." 

"Speak, speak, or we will kill you!" screamed 
the mob. "Renounce the strange doctrine and 
give the foreigners up, or you are a dead 
man!" 

Pastor Meng looked this way and that, but he 
was surrounded by a sea of hostile faces. The 
better element in the crowd had disappeared at 
the threat of bloodshed and those who were left, 



212 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 



hardened with superstitious fear, were thirsting 
for vengeance. There was no help. 

An exalted look swept over the pastor's face; 
it verily seemed to shine. His lips moved as if in 
prayer and with a ringing voice he exclaimed : 

"I will not tell you where the foreigners are 
because they are the best friends I have ever had, 
and the best friends this city has! Years ago 
when I was dying of cholera, they took me into 
their hospital and nursed me back to life. Should 
I be false to them now? That is not the idea of 
gratitude the ancients taught us. I am not afraid 
for" — and his voice took on a note of triumph — 
"I believe in God, the Father Almighty, and in 
Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord!" At the 
first words the rioters listened breathless, aston- 
ished at the man's courage ; then some one moved 
and the spell was broken. A hand threw a stone 
that caught the pastor on the forehead and he 
fell headlong. A soldier near, as if to com- 
plete the mischief, stabbed him with a knife. One 
of the crowd, with more feeling than the rest, 
saw the lips of the dying man move and stooping 
over caught his last words : 

"Oh, I see Jesus, I see Jesus," he whispered, 
and then the brave heart stopped beating. Pastor 



"THE TERROR BY NIGHT" 213 

Meng had freely laid down his life rather than 
betray his friends and lose the truth for which he 
had lived. 

The crowd surged forward again and with 
their fierce cries awakened the echoes. 

"Slay the 'foreign devils'! Slay the 'foreign 
devils' !" they shrieked. 

At that moment a man came running up the 
street and entering the compound asked for the 
water coolie. 

"The foreigners have left the city by the gate 
of the blue pagoda; they are probably going to 
the Fearsome Caverns," the man shouted. "If 
they reach there they will let loose all the demons 
that haunt the caves, and the shaking of the 
dragon will be as nothing to the ill that will then 
befall the city." 

At these words the mob turned and started for 
the great gates on a mad run. A few only re- 
mained behind to complete the looting of the hos- 
pital, and afterwards dispersed to their homes. 

The Fearsome Caverns were names to conjure 
with in the city, for they went far into the moun- 
tain side and were full of passages and under- 
ground rooms. Mammoth bats hung to the ceil- 
ing and bhnd fish were to be found in a stream 



214 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

that gurgled and spluttered through one section 
of the grotto. A single call would awake the 
echoes that would thunder down the passages for 
several moments, and cries and groans were often 
heard issuing from the mouth of the cave. It was 
no wonder that rumor reported that no animal, 
not even a dog, ever entered this place and re- 
turned alive, and heaps of bones at the entrance 
confirmed this superstition. The boldest citizen 
would hesitate to enter these black depths alone 
in the daytime and the man who would attempt 
to do so at night would be considered insane. 
For reasons of their own the ruffians of the 
neighborhood had done their best to spread such 
stories and the place was the resort of all the wild 
characters throughout the Province. All these 
things made it seem wiser to catch the fugitives 
before they gained their shelter. 

When the rioters reached the city gate the 
country without looked so forbidding that many 
were for turning back and waiting for the morn- 
ing to continue their search, but others snatched 
up torches and lanterns and still crying venge- 
ance upon the barbarians dashed forward into 
the murky night. Then at length Old Scarred 
Face threw all caution to the winds, for up to this 



"THE TERROR BY NIGHT" 215 

moment she had kept herself rather in the back- 
ground, and from this time forward led the 
pursuit. 

In the meantime the refugees had, as reported, 
headed for the caverns. Lao Pong was invalu- 
able, and from the moment that they had climbed 
the wall he had taken command. He showed 
great skill in leading them down unfrequented 
lanes and out-of-the-way alleys, telling them 
when to move and when to remain motionless 
under the shadow of a building or overhanging 
balcony. He finally brought them into a court- 
yard a short distance within the city gates and 
here they found chairs waiting for them provided 
by the young Lord Chang, for Lao Pong had 
seen him early in the evening and, knowing that 
he could be trusted, had told him of the expected 
flight and had arranged with the young man to 
have the chairs in readiness. 

Lord Chang's son was no coward and at the 
risk of his life he met the foreigners at the court- 
yard and begged to be allowed to accompany 
them on their flight, feeling sure that his great 
name would give them much protection. His 
brave offer was refused and he had to content 
himself with giving them a card to use at the gate 



216 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

which would keep them from dangerous delay. 
Fortunately, this card worked like magic and the 
soldiers allowed them to pass without a question. 
The fugitives kept the curtains of their chairs 
carefully closed, however, and Lao Pong repre- 
sented them as friends of the young nobleman 
who were fleeing from the earthquake. 

When the blue pagoda was reached it was de- 
termined to send back the chairs, as there was 
grave question as to the loyalty of the bearers, 
and it was thought wiser to proceed alone. Thus 
Lao Pong again showed his sagacity, for it was 
one of these very men who reported to the water 
coolie their presence at the blue pagoda. 

Fortunately, the foreigners had a long start 
of the rioters, and they had gone far into the 
depths of the caverns before their pursuers 
reached the entrance. Here at length the crowd 
paused in their headlong progress. The most 
part were for giving it up and returning to the 
city; others wished to place a guard and thus 
starve their victims out. Old Scarred Face, true 
to her character, scorned such weak counsels. 

"You cows," she shouted, "y^^ ^^^ j^st old 
women; of course you are afraid, but I have a 
charm here" — and she held a charm high above 



"THE TERROR BY NIGHT" 217 

her head — "that will save all who enter with the 
righteous intention of ridding this Province for- 
ever from the taint of the foreigner. 

"^Who are the immortals who will go with me?" 
she cried, as the crowd still faltered. 

"She is the witch of the cavern; we will be safe 
enough with her," called the water coolie who had 
been well paid to impart this knowledge. 

A few of the wavering turned back, but the 
rest with hoots and howls ran on into the dark 
cave. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE FEARSOME CAVERNS 

Down a corridor dark as death. 
With beating hearts and bated breath 
We hurried ; far away we heard 
A dreadful hissing, fierce as fire 
When rain begins to quench a pyre; 
And where the smoky torch-light flared 
Strange vermin beat their bat-like wings. 
And the wet wall dropped with slimy things. 

— Alfred Noyes. 

MANY poets have written and many min- 
strels have sung praises to the beauties of 
the night — night with its thousand stars and 
myriad eyes, night with its silvery moonlight and 
soft breezes that caress the cheek. But if one 
wishes to realize the terrors that the midnight 
hours can hold, one must turn to the songs of the 
old Hebrew bards. They portray impartially 
both the glories and the horrors of darkness, and 
this goes far to explain their hold on the imagina- 
tion of every race, for they speak the language of 
a common experience. 

When the little party of refugees plunged 

218 



THE FEARSOME CAVERNS 219 

down the dark galleries of the Fearsome Caverns, 
pursued by pitiless and relentless foes, they felt 
to the very marrow of their bones what "the ter- 
ror by night" might mean. As they entered the 
mouth of the cave they could hear from far away 
the voices of their pursuers and see the glimmer 
of their lanterns. The foreign doctor had a tiny 
electric flash hght, and by its rays they found the 
way. Lao Pong had heard there was a subter- 
ranean river running through the den and he felt 
that near it they might find a hiding place. They 
stumbled along over stones and around huge 
rocks, never daring to speak or whisper, although 
the road seemed endless and sometimes they 
feared that they were but going around in a 
circle, for in the dim shadows they seemed to 
recognize objects which they had passed before. 
The ladies were almost exhausted and frequently 
had to pause for rest. At length the party 
reached a long corridor-like alley where they 
could stand erect; up to this time they had been 
forced to run in a stooping position. Ahead of 
them they thought that they recognized the 
murmur of a stream, when suddenly they heard 
a shout of triumph and, turning, saw l)ehind 
them the lanterns of their pursuers. The cries 



220 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

that went up from the mob froze their blood and 
made their hearts ahnost stand still, but terror 
gave new strength to their dragging feet and 
they darted forward. When the friends reached 
the river, they found that a narrow footpath ran 
beside it and they instinctively followed it. 

"We must go across to that opening on the 
other side; there is a hole or well not far from 
there where we may be able to hide until they are 
weary and give up the search," whispered Lao 
Pong. 

"Is it very deep ?" asked the ladies. 

"I do not know," replied Lao Pong, "but it is 
better to drown than to fall into the hands of Old 
Scarred Face." 

Holding tightly to one another's hands, the 
fugitives went into the torrent. Each step 
brought them into deeper water and the current 
ran very swiftly, but they did not falter although 
they often tripped over loose stones. The water 
rose to their knees and then to their waists and to 
their shoulders ; the next step promised to bring 
them beyond their depth ; but, no, the stream was 
growing lower, and they at length could stand 
dripping and shivering on the other bank. They 
dared not pause, however, and turning they 



THE FEARSOME CAVERNS 221 



crawled on hands and knees through a narrow 
passage that admitted only one person at a time. 
The foreign doctor went first, then the ladies fol- 
lowed, and Lao Pong brought up the rear. 

The passage terminated suddenly in a drop of 
about twelve feet. When the doctor first used his 
light in it, he thought that the pit was unfathom- 
able; it looked as if they would be forced to re- 
turn and face their enemies or die miserably like 
rats in a hole. On closer examination, however, 
he thought that he could see the bottom, but it 
was full of water. Would it be beyond his 
depth? About halfway down the wall of the 
cavern he saw a slight projection that might give 
him foothold. Only a desperate person would 
have attempted the descent, but he decided to 
try. He removed his coat and handing it to his 
wife told her to grasp it firmly and he would hold 
on to the other end to steady himself, then very 
carefully he let himself down to the tiny shelf; 
this he reached in safety, and could see the water 
only a few feet below him. There was nothing to 
do but jump, trusting that the pool was not too 
deep. His lips moved in silent prayer; then he 
leaped into the darkness. To his rehef he found 
the water only up to his knees, so he whispered 



222 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

of his safety to his anxious wife. He then gave 
her minute instructions how to follow him, stand- 
ing ready to catch her should she slip. Thus one 
after another they scrambled down into their 
moist retreat. 

Lao Pong very cautiously explored their hid- 
ing place but could find no other outlet into the 
cavern ; they therefore decided to hide themselves 
behind the huge bowlders at the farther end, 
trusting that their pursuers would give up the 
hunt rather than attempt the perilous descent 
into the hole. 

Meanwhile there was division in the camp of 
their enemies. They had turned the corner of 
the passageway just too late to see their vic- 
tims ford the river and plunge into the gallery 
on the other bank. When the crowd had reached 
the place where the party had crossed the stream, 
the leaders were uncertain which road to take. 
Some wished to dash right in, but others felt that 
it was wiser to keep themselves and their clothes 
dry by remaining on the path on which they were. 

"Only fools would leap into a river when there 
was another path to follow," said the water coolie. 
"It is too cold a night and too far from the city 
to wet oneself to the skin." 



THE FEARSOME CAVERNS 223 

"You are the foolish one to think in such a 
manner," replied Old Scarred Face. "The 'for- 
eign devils' knew how afraid you cowards are of 
a little dampness and that is the very reason they 
would cross the stream." 

"You can swim over if you like, Old Tiger," 
answered the man. "I for one shall take the 
other road," and off he started followed by the 
others. 

Old Scarred Face ground her teeth at the 
thought of losing such precious time, but she did 
not dare to go over alone; so she was forced to 
give in. The rioters spent a full hour in search- 
ing corridors and alleys, but not a trace of the 
fugitives could they find. 

"They are demons, indeed, and have gone to 
their own place," said the coolie. "How could we 
mere human beings hope to find them? I think 
that it is prudent to return to the city; we have 
banished them and they will never be bold enough 
to return. We have probably lost all the loot by 
coming away as we did, and who will say that we 
have been wise?" 

At these words the mob started on a wild run 
to the entrance, but Old Scarred Face came close 
beside the coolie. 



224 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

"Not one cash will Creeping Sin give you un- 
less you bring the hair of the foreigners to show 
that they are dead," the woman threatened. 

This caused the coolie to halt; to lose the loot 
and the bribe as well would be to lose every- 
thing. 

**01d Scarred Face says that she saw the bar- 
barians cross the river," he shouted. "Let us go 
back and hunt for them on the other side; we 
should lose face if we returned to the city with 
our task unfinished. All who slay foreigners 
acquire merit that covers millions of sins." 

At these words the crowd retraced their steps 
and were soon on the banks of the stream. With 
much cursing and reviling, they plunged into the 
river and struggled to the other side. Again a 
controversy ensued whether to crawl into the nar- 
row passageway or take a path that followed the 
torrent. Old Scarred Face finally prevailed and 
led them down the gallery. The crowd had been 
careless of their lanterns and torches in the cross- 
ing and these had gotten wet and gone out; in 
consequence they only had one feeble lantern 
which Old Scarred Face carried. When she 
came to the deep hole, she held the light well over 
the brink and the flickering rays lighted up her 



THE FEARSOME CAVERNS 225 

withered, scowling features, so that the fugitives 
cowering in a distant corner could see it vividly. 
Even the old woman's bravado shrank at the 
depth of that pit and the water at its bottom. 

"It is a bad place," she called back to the 
others, "without a ladder or ropes it would not 
be safe to attempt it. If the foreign devils are 
there, they can never escape for they cannot climb 
up that sheer wall. We have them in a trap at 
last." 

Since their leader was in this mood, the others 
were not loath to retire; they were cold and the 
first excitement of the chase was over, so they 
hurried as fast as they could to the mouth of the 
cavern. 

Old Scarred Face was about to leave the cave 
when a restraining hand was put on her arm and 
she was dragged back into the shadow. Turning, 
she looked up into the face of her fellow conspir- 
ator, Creeping Sin. 

"How goes it; are the barbarians dead?" he 
inquired eagerly. 

"No! May eagles eat their hearts out! They 
escaped but I think I know where they lie hidden, 
and I will take you there so that we can plan how 
best to get them," she answered. 



226 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA i 

"Bungler, as usual !" he taunted. "Your well- \ 
laid plots are clumsy; I wonder I use such a 
blunt tool." 

"Bungler! Indeed!" the woman exclaimed. 
"How about the voyage on the Pacific, and the | 
trap you laid in that distant city where the girl i 
was educated? What are you, to speak of ! 
bunglers?" j 

Creeping Sin saw that the woman was wet and 
tired and in no mood to be baited, so he let the ' 
matter drop, but he eyed her malignantly as she 
strode ahead of him. ] 

"She is growing old; all her schemes fall 
through; she knows more than is convenient of \ 
my past; I must shortly get rid of her," he 1 
thought to himself. j 

The two conspirators crossed the stream, and j 
crept down the narrow gallery; at the end Old 
Scarred Face stopped and pointed out to Creep- \ 
ing Sin, who peered eagerly over her shoulder, i 
the sheer rocky wall and the water below. A j 
sudden impulse seized the man: What better 
place could he find to do away with his enemy! j 
No one would connect his name with this spot! ' 
At that moment Old Scarred Face leaned far out ! 
over the edge, for she thought that she saw some- 



THE FEARSOME CAVERNS 227 

thing moving at the farther end of the hole. 
Creeping Sin drew back a Httle to give force to 
his blow and then with all his strength pushed 
her over the brink. 

With a wild shriek the woman fell to the bot- 
tom; the water splashed high; then all was still; 
Old Scarred Face had carried the lantern so 
Creeping Sin had no light and was obliged to feel 
his way back to the river. 

"One witness less to my past career," he 
thought. "If the foreigners are in that place, 
they will starve to death; they cannot possibly 
climb that wall; so we need not trouble more 
about them. I wish all my enemies were likely 
to give me as little trouble." 

Hardly waiting to be sure that Creeping Sin 
had permanently disappeared, the foreign doctor 
moved cautiously forward to rescue Old Scarred 
Face from what promised to be a watery grave. 
He must take no risks, however, for she might 
return to consciousness and raise an outcry. By 
means of his electric flash light, he soon located 
her. She had fallen in a shallow place with her 
head against a rock that just raised her mouth 
above the water. If she had struck a foot either 
way, she would certainly have been drowned. 



228 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

Carefully he lifted the woman and carried her 
to a flat rock near the center of the hole and then 
began his examination. His wife watched Hsie 
Yin with interest, for the test had come at last of 
which they had spoken so long ago. Would the 
younger woman offer to help, or would she allow 
the foreign doctor to do the work alone? 

Without a moment's hesitation, Little Small- 
Feet stepped forward and went to the doctor's 
side. 

"Let me assist you," she said simply. 

The woman still remained unconscious but in 
a few minutes they were able to determine par- 
tially the extent of the damage. Her head was 
terribly bruised and her arm broken and a rib 
factured; they suspected also that some injury 
had been done to the spine, but at present it was 
impossible to tell how much. The ladies tore 
their skirts into strips to make bandages for the 
patient and they bound her up as well as they 
could with the few means at hand. The next 
problem was how to leave the cave, for a day and 
a night spent in the cold watery cavern would 
mean death to them all. It seemed absolutely 
impossible to scale the wall, and if they could 
manage it themselves they certainly could not 



THE FEARSOME CAVERNS 229 

raise the unconscious woman to the passage 
above. 

While the friends were consulting what to do, 
Lao Pong had borrowed the light from the doctor 
and began to go carefully around their prison to 
see what he could find. Suddenly he gave a low 
exclamation of pleasure and began to remove 
some large stones heaped up in one coi;ner. 

"What have you found?" whispered the doctor. 

"I am not sure, but it seems like another cor- 
ridor which leads directly out into the open air," 
answered Lao Pong. 

This news seemed too good to be true, and with 
feverish haste they began to help him. The floor 
of the cave sloped up to this spot, and although 
it was damp and slippery the water did not stand 
here. They found that the stones which blocked 
the entrance had been piled up from the outside. 
Two huge bowlders which stood a foot or so away 
on the inside of their prison had kept them from 
noticing the character of this pile of stones. 

Before many minutes the passageway was 
quite free and Lao Pong stole stealthily to the 
farther end to find out how the land lay. The 
first faint flickering of light showed that the 
dawn was not far distant; if they wished to hide 



230 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

elsewhere, they must hurry. The faithful serv- 
ant cautiously moved the bushes that grew thick 
around the entrance and seeing no lights or signs 
of human habitation he felt his way carefully 
along a narrow pathway. It was evident that he 
had come out on the other side of the mountain 
from the city, for here was no view of the blue 
pagoda or the river but only a long, deep valley, 
hedged in with mountain peaks. Suddenly it 
occurred to him that he had blundered on the 
place called the Spirit Valley, and somewhere in 
the distance he saw the dim outhne of a building 
which he felt must be a ruined temple. All sorts 
of wild rumors were circulated about this place. 
Long ago a priest had been murdered here and 
since then no Chinese, rich or poor, good or bad, 
no matter how desperate, had dared enter the 
precincts. Lao Pong himself shook with fear; 
nevertheless, he hurried to the very walls of the 
building and found as he had conjectured that it 
was the temple which he sought. No sound was 
to be heard but the dismal hoot of an owl from 
an old tree, and when its notes struck on Lao 
Pong's ears, he took to his heels and ran at the 
top of his speed to the cavern. 

The httle party were delighted with his report 



THE FEARSOME CAVERNS 231 

for he could not have found a safer spot for a 
hiding place. Without more ado they started 
for the temple, Lao Pong and the foreign doctor 
carrying Old Scarred Face, who though very tall 
was nothing but skin and bones, and no weight to 
strong men. It never seemed to occur to them 
that they might leave her to her fate as Creeping 
Sin had done. 

The shelter of the temple was a great pro- 
tection from the cold winds that blew just before 
the dawn. They found a room in the rear of the 
big idol where the priests had hved. Lao Pong 
gathered some dry branches and made a small 
fire at which they dried themselves, but as soon as 
the sun showed behind a distant peak they were 
forced to put out the blaze for fear it would 
betray them. 

At night the Spirit Valley was always de- 
serted, because no peasant or traveling merchant 
would risk its enchantments in the darkness, but 
in the daytime the thrifty farmers could not bear 
to let so much good land lie idle, so the hillside 
was covered with little plots of cultivated ground. 
A road ran through one end of the glen and over 
a high pass to the neighboring market town. In 
broad daylight this road was much frequented 



232 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

by merchants, but these worthy men of business 
were very careful not to be caught there as eve- 
ning fell. 

Throughout the whole of the following day the 
friends had to content themselves with staying 
strictly within the shelter of the temple walls. 
Without food or drink their lot was pitiable in- 
deed, and the groans of the wounded woman in 
the corner and her moaning for water added 
much to their distress. At times they feared lest 
some passing peasant might hear her shrieks but 
the reputation of their retreat kept them safe 
from prying eyes and the screams only added to 
the evil character of the place. 

Above the room in which they crouched was a 
loft full of broken idols, old sacks, and straw 
matting. The foreign doctor brought down the 
latter to make rough beds for the ladies and the 
sick woman, and throughout the long hours they 
rested from the fatigue of the preceding evening. 
The doctor felt that if they should be spied upon 
by any marauders they could retire to the loft 
and set up such heart-rending shrieks and groans 
that no one would suspect that the dignified for- 
eigners had taken refuge there. 

The sun sparkled brightly, and the valley lay 



THE FEARSOME CAVERNS 233 

basking in its peaceful rays ; on the temple walls 
doves billed and cooed and pruned their soft 
plumage ; it was hard to realize that a few li 
away there was a mob that was panting for their 
lives. Once late in the afternoon a band of 
ragged men went down the road calling and beat- 
ing stocks and their words resounded among the 
hills. 

* 'Death to the foreign devils," they shouted. 
"Slay the barbarians!" and the echoes took up 
their cry and prolonged it dreadfully. 

The farmers, working their tiny fields, ran to 
hear what was the matter, and they joined in the 
shouts until the air rang with them. Then the 
crowd separated and searched through all the un- 
derbrush and groves of trees, but they gave the 
temple a wide berth, for they would run no risks 
where it was concerned. Old Scarred Face and 
her charm had mysteriously disappeared, and 
anyway her charm had not saved them a terrible 
wetting the night before ; they shivered now when 
they thought of it. 

When night came on Lao Pong stole out to 
forage for food. In the fields he found some late 
turnips and carrots and under a chestnut tree 
some delicious nuts. In the corner under a 



234 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

I ' ■ ■ ■ . -I 

ruined stable he discovered a nest of a truant 
hen and stole the hen and her egg. In the lower 
part of the glen some rice stood that had not been 
garnered and he took the few grains to tempt the 
temple pigeons, thinking that perhaps they might 
catch one or two at a time and eat them. Then 
he returned to the temple with his plunder. 
Fortunately the priests in their flight had left 
their charcoal brazier and some fuel, also a few 
primitive dishes for cooking. The foreign doctor 
had a box of matches which he always kept in a 
waterproof case and was able to light a fire, so 
that night they did not fare so badly ; but if their 
exile was to be of long duration there was a 
strong chance that they would starve. 

Three days and nights they spent in such 
fashion and then it seemed necessary to get some 
information or make some move. The Great 
Helpful Lady had caught a severe chill .as a con- 
sequence of the exposure, and now her symptoms 
made them fear pneumonia, and it was impera- 
tive to obtain some warm covering for her. 

Many plans were discussed, but they finally 
agreed upon one suggested by Lao Pong. As 
soon as darkness fell he was to start for the 
neighboring market city, and buy supplies and 



THE FEARSOME CAVERNS 235 

food. A man who had been cured at the hospital 
lived in that place and he was an earnest inquirer 
into the new doctrine and very grateful as well, 
so they felt that he would assist them. It was a 
hazardous undertaking but the brave Lao Pong 
started out as if it were a pleasure excursion. In 
fact, he refused to allow the foreign doctor to 
attempt the trip, knowing that his master could 
never disguise himself from the curiosity of a 
crowd. 

"It would be death to you, but to me it is mere 
child's play," lied the faithful fellow. 

Yet several years later, the captain of an ocean 
steamer, on which the doctor traveled, spoke in 
the most contemptuous terms of the Chinese 
race. 

"They are a dirty, dishonest, thieving set of 
beggars," the man announced. "There is not one 
of them I would trust around the block." 

Lao Pong's cheery face and unselfish acts, and 
the noble death of Pastor Meng, flashed into the 
doctor's mind, and he afterwards confessed that 
never in his life had he been so tempted to knock 
a man dov/n. 

But to return to Lao Pong's adventure. It 
was a moonlight night when he set forth and he 



236 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

had the advantage of being able to see his path 
throughout the length of the valley. He was in- 
wardly pleased at this, for the tales told of en- 
chantment to the unwary traveler had made a 
deep impression on his mind, and he did not care 
to be made the victim of any spirit's jokes. He 
reached the town in the early morning when the 
farmers and merchants were bringing their pro- 
duce into market, and among all the strangers 
he caused no comment. Without much difficulty 
he found the house of his friend, who treated him 
with every courtesy, notwithstanding the fact 
that he did so at the risk of his life. The man 
readily promised to make Lao Pong's purchases 
for him and bring back the news of the street. 
He was gone a long time and when he returned 
his report was not encouraging. The anti- 
foreign feeling had spread throughout that 
region and search parties were out through the 
countryside looking for the refugees. An order 
had been pasted on the city gates to the effect 
that strangers were to be questioned and watch- 
men placed at the entrance of all the mountain 
passes. 

Lao Pong decided that the boldest course 
might in the end be the least suspicious. He had 



THE FEARSOME CAVERNS 237 

been forced to buy a donkey to carry his numer- 
ous purchases, and he decided to seat himself 
upon it in true Chinese fashion and join a cara- 
van of merchants who were just starting for the 
City of the Blue Pagoda. He took good care to 
bring up the rear where he could leave the party 
at any moment should the necessity arise. In 
this manner he reached the entrance of the Spirit 
Valley. There the nature of the road forced the 
caravan to separate a little and he easily fell 
behind the rest for dusk was closing, and unno- 
ticed he took the path turning to the temple. 

He was received very warmly by his friends 
who eagerly inquired of his journey and the news 
he brought. It was not reassuring and when he 
reluctantly told them of the death of Pastor 
Meng, they were almost overcome. Their lives 
had been saved thus far, but at what a cost! 

It was very apparent that they must remain 
where they were for some time to come; indeed 
the Great Helpful Lady's condition would allow 
of nothing else. Her fever was raging, and at 
times she was delirious, going over and over her 
terrifying experiences. 

The donkey, too, proved a cause of anxiety, for 
whenever a caravan appeared in the valley he 



238 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

would lift up his voice and salute his kindred. It 
was finally decided to hide him in the mouth of 
the cavern, where he would be out of sight and 
hearing from the road. 

The following week Lao Pong made another 
attempt to reach the market town, but he was 
caught by some rough fellows at the top of the 
pass and escaped with the utmost difficulty. He 
was gone a day and a night, and the refugees 
had given him up for lost, but the following even- 
ing he returned weary to death from his wander- 
ings in the mountains. Three weeks went by and 
four, and the Great Helpful Lady was slowly be- 
ginning to mend. Old Scarred Face, too, was 
evidently much better and from the intelligent 
look in her eyes they were sure that she knew 
what was passing, but she refused to speak. Her 
arm and rib had knit and the wounds on her head 
healed over and she seemed able to move the 
upper part of her body, but her symptoms 
showed that she was paralyzed below her waist, 
probably from the injury to the spine. They 
felt safe, therefore, where she was concerned. 
The beggar woman could not bear to have Hsie 
Yin near her and once, when the young woman 
brought her some food, she looked so threatening 



THE FEARSOME CAVERNS 239 

that from that time forward she left the care of 
her to the others. 

Thus the days went on to the end of the fourth 
week. Every few days Lao Pong would make a 
fruitless attempt to get some news, but he always 
found suspicious characters crawling near and 
would be forced to return. Matters were grow- 
ing desperate ; the stores which he had gotten at 
the market city were just about exhausted and 
they were all carefully rationed. Lao Pong at 
length made the desperate resolution of going to 
the City of the Blue Pagoda and appealing to 
the young Lord Chang for aid. Bravely he 
started out and his friends remained behind, sad 
in the thought that his life might fall a sacrifice 
to his loyalty as Pastor Meng's had done. 

Long before they expected him, he returned 
and with him were three chairs and their bearers. 
The fugitives could scarcely believe their eyes but 
Lao Pong's joyful shout reassured them. As 
soon as he could recover his breath, for he and 
the coolies had run almost all the way, he told 
them his joyful tidings. 

"I have seen Wang Dah Mah and the young 
Lord Chang, and they have sent their greetings," 
he explained. "The Governor of the Province 



240 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

and the American Consul are in the city investi- 
gating the riots. Lord Chang has committed sui- 
cide and Creeping Sin is banished from the king- 
dom forever!" 



CHAPTER XIII 

LORD CHANG EATS BITTERNESS 

O, silkily murmured Creeping Sin, 
"This is the stone you wished to win/' 

But in his ear the tall thin man 
Whispered with slow, strange lips — we knew 
Not what, but Creeping Sin went blue 

With fear; again his eyes began 
To slant aside; then through the porch 
He passed, and lit a tall, brown torch. 

— ^Alfred Noyes. 

THE hours that had dragged so wearily in 
the ruined temple had flown very swiftly in 
the City of the Blue Pagoda. The days were 
scarcely long enough to accomplish all the evil 
designs of Creeping Sin and Lord Chang. 
These two worthy companions had found one 
another's company so congenial that they had 
thrown all caution to the winds and were seen 
constantly together. Creeping Sin unceasingly 
fawned on Lord Chang and in this manner the 
wily intriguer wound his devious way into the 
confidence of the nobleman. 

Evil times had fallen on the city. Looting and 

241 



242 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

disorder had followed the riot, for Creeping Sin 
and Lord Chang secretly encouraged the rougher 
element in terrorizing the more respectable mer- 
chants and gentry, because they reaped a share 
in the profits. 

At first Creeping Sin was convinced that the 
foreigners had perished miserably in the caverns 
and he imparted his conjectures to Lord Chang, 
withholding, however, all mention of Old Scarred 
Face. They felt it wiser, nevertheless, to keep 
up some form of pursuit, in case their enemies 
were somewhere in hiding, and when a beggar 
brought in word that Lao Pong had been seen at 
the market town in the vicinity, they renewed 
their efforts to catch the fugitives. The head 
official of the district, who was completely in 
Lord Chang's power, very willingly posted no- 
tices against the barbarians on every gate and 
blank wall, and had messengers sent through the 
neighboring towns offering rewards for the re- 
turn or capture of the refugees. 

The more decent people in the city soon grew 
tired of all these disturbances and wrote of the 
condition of affairs to the Viceroy of the Prov- 
ince. A friend of the foreigners also notified the 
American Consul, who lived on the great river, 



LORD CHANG EATS BITTERNESS 243 

telling him of the disappearance of his fellow 
citizens and the fear that they had been 
murdered. 

One evening, about a month after the first riot, 
a yamen runner, who was in the pay of Creeping 
Sin, came to his house and demanded entrance. 
He was received by his employer with the usual 
sneer reserved for inferiors. 

"I did not summon you to-night; I told you to 
come to-morrow. You shall be bastinadoed for 
this presumption. Only fools come where they 
are not wanted," Creeping Sin threatened. 

"As you will," whined the spy, "but you will 
lose information that you would pay a king's 
ransom to obtain." 

"Speak out, then, and do not waste time that is 
worth more than gold," replied the Spider. 

The fellow then hastened to explain that a 
secret message had just arrived for the chief 
official announcing that the Viceroy and the 
American Consul were on their way to investi- 
gate the riots and would reach the city the next 
day. 

"You know it is not healthy for the body or 
the pocketbook to insult foreigners at present," 
said the man with an insinuating leer. 



244 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

ii ^ ■ ' ' I 

"When I want wisdom I will not seek it from 
a knave like you," snarled Creeping Sin. "Who 
says I am connected with this affair, I will throw 
their bones to be eaten by dogs." 

"It is in everyone's mouth that you were seen 
at the mouth of the caverns talking to Old 
Scarred Face the night the foreigners disap- 
peared. Since then you and Lord Chang are 
always together and the pigs on the street know 
what he thinks of the 'foreign devils'." 

For once Creeping Sin let his rage master him 
and he leaped at the man's throat. 

"If you kill me, you will not hear the re- 
mainder of the story," gasped the man. Creep- 
ing Sin let his hand fall and stood glaring at the 
informer. 

The man told his tale in a straightforward 
manner that proved its truth. He had received 
his information from a servant of the Viceroy 
who had come to prepare the way for his master. 
The most carefully guarded secret is never safe 
in China; servants and underlings know a royal 
mandate to their masters some hours before those 
in authority receive it themselves. In this man- 
ner it had become known that the Empress Dow- 
ager was in a towering rage over the news of the 



LORD CHANG EATS BITTERNESS 245 

antif oreign riot in the City of the Blue Pagoda. 
She was at that moment trying to estabhsh more 
friendly relations with the great powers of 
Europe and America and this incident might 
endanger these negotiations and prove that she 
was acting in bad faith. She was particularly in- 
censed with Lord Chang and had issued a com- 
mand at the hand of the Viceroy that Lord 
Chang should appear at once at the capital, 
bringing with him Hsie Yin and the foreigners, 
as her majesty wished to decorate them for the 
fine work they had done during the cholera epi- 
demic. If he did not obey immediately, his life 
and estate would be forfeited. 

Creeping Sin could scarcely refrain a smile at 
the skill with which the wily Empress had laid 
her plans. Whatever happened Lord Chang 
would "lose face" and become the laughingstock 
of the Empire. To command him, of all people, 
to honor the barbarians was a clever bit of irony. 

The man continued his story and Creeping 
Sin's smile soon disappeared. The Empress 
Dowager had watched Creeping Sin's evil prac- 
tices for many years — in fact it was widely re- 
ported that he had paid the throne a large for- 
tune to continue them — and now her patience 



246 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

was exhausted. She therefore banished him from 
the Flowery Kingdom for the duration of his 
Hf e ; a price of ten thousand taels was put on his 
head, and all his possessions were to be confis- 
cated by the throne. 

Creeping" Sin was stupefied ! Here was a plot 
cleverer than he had ever conducted against 
others. He did not, however, let the man see how 
deeply the report had moved him, but paid him 
liberally and sent him away. 

Without delay Creeping Sin ordered a sedan 
chair called and set off to see Lord Chang, and 
on the way he thought over a scheme by which he 
could have his revenge on his old foe. 

Lord Chang received his ally in the friendly 
fashion he had assumed toward him since their 
recent transactions. During the first hour of the 
visit Creeping Sin kept the conversation on 
pleasant topics. They sipped their tea and 
chatted over various events in the city and the 
plans which they had on foot. Creeping Sin very 
gradually brought the talk around to the Vice- 
roy's intended visit. He told Lord Chang the 
reason for the official's coming and then went on 
to recount the news that the spy had brought, but 
made no mention concerning his own banishment. 



LORD CHANG EATS BITTERNESS 247 

"It is most unfortunate that the plot about the 
foreigners should have become known. I covered 
up the tracks so carefully that I cannot see who 
the betrayer could be unless it might be the care- 
less word of a wayward boy. I am inconsolable 
that this disgrace should fall upon your honor, 
whose friendship is my most precious possession. 
I am the more inconsolable because I fear the 
Empress Dowager's indignation will be even 
deeper when she knows that it is your own 
daughter whom you have treated in this manner." 

"My own daughter? What right have you to 
mention my daughter? It is heaping indignity 
and insult upon me and my ancestors," cried 
Lord Chang, for once startled out of his ac- 
customed calm. 

"Nevertheless, this Dong Hsie Yin, the Chi- 
nese woman doctor, is your own daughter. Little 
Small-Feet, whom you refused to ransom. It 
will take a great amount of explanation to make 
Her Royal Highness understand that," sneered 
Creeping Sin. "Old Scarred Face and I have 
proofs enough and we have ways of bringing the 
matter to Her Majesty's ears that will keep us 
out of the trouble." 

"A present between friends will often keep 



248 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

such matters quiet," answered Lord Chang. "I 
have many affairs to attend to this evening, and 
it will be quicker to name your price with no 
more conversation." 

"Half of your possessions must be handed over 
to me before the sun rises, and a letter written to 
your agents in the Strait Settlements empower- 
ing me to draw on you at my pleasure," de- 
manded Creeping Sin. 

"You will ruin me," exclaimed Lord Chang, 
to whom the thought of paying out so much 
money was worse than all the other troubles 
combined. 

"You are ruined already," consoled Creeping 
Sin. "It would take all your fortune, large as it 
is, to make the Empress receive you now." 

The men talked and bargained until nearly 
midnight but could come to no agreement. 
Creeping Sin saw that the nobleman was des- 
perate and finally compromised on a large sum to 
be paid by Lord Chang's bankers in the Straits 
Settlements. The plotter would never have 
made these terms but he had his own affairs to set 
in order and time was precious. With great 
formality and courtesy he made his parting bows ; 
men hke Creeping Sin may forget their morals. 



LORD CHANG EATS BITTERNESS 249 

but in the presence of their superiors in rank they 
seldom forget their manners. 

Overwhehned by the bad tidings Creeping Sin 
had brought. Lord Chang sat thinking until 
nearly daybreak. He had no reason to doubt 
the truth of his foe's assertions; there were too 
msLuy proofs brought out in the course of their 
conversation to do that. As soon as his guest 
had departed, a servant entered and told his 
master that the Viceroy was expected to arrive. 
Something in the fellow's manner made the 
nobleman suspect that he, too, had heard the 
rumor of coming disgrace. 

Various schemes occurred to the desperate 
man's mind, but only to be cast aside as worth- 
less. It was evident that his pride was to be 
humbled to the dust and he was to be held up to 
the ridicule of the Empire. If ever a man "ate 
vinegar" Lord Chang did so throughout those 
midnight hours. According to the ideas of his 
class, only one course lay open to him whereby 
he could save his "face." If he should take 
his own life, the blame for his action would 
be thrown on his enemies and his honor would 
be shielded; his respect for his ancestors and the 
good of the family demanded this sacrifice. 



250 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

Very calmly Lord Chang prepared for the 
deed. Stretching himself on his couch he ex- 
tracted from his pocket a tiny phial containing 
some small pellets of opium. Without the tremor 
of an eyelid he swallowed the contents of the 
bottle, and then from a table beside him he took 
his opium pipe. With the fatalism of the Orient 
he drew in deep drafts of unconsciousness ; it was 
not strange that in his death Lord Chang should 
turn to his only remaining friend. After this 
manner did Little Small-Feet's father seek the 
shades of his ancestors. 

The mourning of the Chang family made up 
in pomp what it lacked in sincerity. The two 
hundred servants were dressed in white and their 
sober faces showed no trace of the inward relief 
that they felt over the removal of their oppressor. 
The hired mourners did their part with zeal and 
unction, and their loud wails and ear-splitting 
shrieks attested to the city that a very great 
nobleman had passed. 

The first three days after his death Lord 
Chang's spirit was supposed to spend in calling 
at the various temples, in order to receive cards 
of merit or blame for the deeds done in this life 
to carry with him on his journey. On the third 



LORD CHANG EATS BITTERNESS 251 

day his spirit returned to his home for a farewell 
visit, and it is much to be feared that in his case 
the bundle of demerits must have been a heavy 
burden for a shade to carry. At this time the 
most important ceremonies occurred, and invita- 
tions to the "third day exercises" were issued to 
all the prominent people in the city. The Vice- 
roy, who had come to degrade the nobleman, 
attended to do honor to his greatness, and many 
lesser officials knocked their august heads on the 
floor before his bier. Only Creeping Sin was 
conspicuous by his absence. 

Lord Chang's trip to the land of shadows must 
certainly have been easy, to judge from the num- 
ber of paper houses, chairs, beds, and furniture of 
every description, that were burned at his grave. 
Plenty of paper money, sedan chairs, and even an 
imitation opium pipe went up into the flames. 
Nothing was spared to make him comfortable 
and happy. 

For forty-nine days prayers were said by every 
variety of priest, and all business and pleasure 
were laid aside while the whole household 
mourned. When this time had elapsed the rela- 
tives could gradually resume their former occu- 
pations, but once a week, at least, there must be 



252 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

wailing beside the grave, and for twenty-nine 
months his son was supposed to stay in retire- 
ment, that he might show sufficient respect to his 
father's memory. 

The tragic end to Lord Chang's career made 
no impression on Creeping Sin. The night after 
their momentous interview was spent in prepara- 
tion for a speedy departure, for there was no use 
in waiting to hear the sentence of banishment 
read. For years Creeping Sin had been prepar- 
ing for such an event, and it did not take him 
long to make ready. He ordered the dwarf to 
burn the premises as soon as his master had de- 
parted, for the wily plotter was determined that 
the Empress Dowager should reap as little bene- 
fit as possible from the confiscation of his goods. 
Just as the sun rose, his task was completed and 
Creeping Sin entered his sedan chair and was 
carried to the city gates. His road lay past the 
Chang residence and at the moment when his 
chair came opposite the entrance, the first loud 
wail arose which announced the nobleman's 
death. A smile of triumph lit up the features of 
Creeping Sin ; his^enemy was punished at last ; he 
had paid the price for all his arrogance. 

No one knew very definitely what became of 



LORD CHANG EATS BITTERNESS 253 

Creeping Sin. One thing was certain : he never 
returned to the City of the Blue Pagoda. 
Rumor said that he had settled somewhere in the 
Straits Settlements, although some maintained 
that he was reaping a fortune on the coast of 
Africa. When the Chinese Republic was estab- 
lished and the old order swept away, many 
thought that he might purchase a pardon and 
return to his own country, but he was too dan- 
gerous a man to be desired by a,ny party and his 
banishment was not repealed. 

After the Great War broke out and the fa- 
mous Emden raided the waters of the Far East, 
it was reported that a Chinese merchant who 
closely resembled Creeping Sin had been arrested 
at Penang for sending searchlight messages to 
the German captain. A secret arrest and trial 
followed but the findings of the court were not 
announced, so it was not known by the outside 
world what sentence was passed on the prisoner. 

One morning, as the sun came up in splendor 
over a tropical sea, a firing squad stealthily crept 
through the palm trees down to where the surf 
was beating along the shore. Swiftly and in 
a businesslike manner they accomphshed their 
errand : a shot rang over the water, then all was 



254 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA ' 

i 
quiet but the breaking of the waves. Perhaps i 

these men could solve the mystery of Creeping j 

Sin's fate, but military discipline keeps them dis- | 

erectly silent. ! 



CHAPTER XIV 

"THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH" 

We have come by curious ways 
To the Light that holds the days ; 
We have sought in haunts of fear 
For that all-enfolding sphere: 
And lo ! it was not far, but near. 

We have found, O foolish-fond. 
The shore that has no shore beyond. 

Deep in every heart it lies 
With its untranscended skies ; 
For what heaven should bend above 
Hearts that own the heaven of love ? 

— Alfred Noyes. 

THE great gates of the city stood wide open 
on the day of Little Small=Feet's return. 
Wheelbarrows full of supplies and donkeys 
loaded with merchandise jostled each other in 
the entrance way. On a stool beside the road a 
man was having his head shaved, for in this 
region the barber shops were in the open air and 
the hairdresser and his patron had ample oppor- 
tunity to watch the passing show and comment on 

255 



256 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

the traffic, and many titbits of news they rolled 
around their tongue. 

With beating hearts the fugitives approached 
the spot. What would be their welcome to this 
city from which they had been so rudely turned 
out? Thus far they had been able to avoid atten- 
tion for there had been few passers-by, but now 
the observant street gamins would surely notice 
them. Were they to be insulted and jeered at or 
would the presence of the Viceroy keep the 
citizens respectful? Only time would tell. 

The barber was the first to catch sight of the 
foreign doctor and he nearly dropped his razor 
in his surprise. He immediately forgot his wait- 
ing customer and running forward made a re- 
spectful bow to the stranger. 

"Are you returning to our unworthy city?" he 
inquired deferentially. It was evident that the 
barber was exceedingly anxious that no suspicion 
of having joined the mob should chng to him. 

Others then pressed forward, welcoming the 
party and even going so far as to invite them to 
stop and take tea. Women ran to their doors 
and stood there smiling and bowing, and when an 
unlucky urchin raised the cry of "foreign devils" 
his mother promptly boxed his ears and hustled 



"THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH" 257 

him into the house. With the death of Lord 
Chang and the disappearance of Creeping Sin, 
the whole atmosphere of the city seemed changed 
and the people breathed more freely. 

"I have always maintained," said Li Sao Tze, 
who was apt to repeat to herself, "that the for- 
eigners were beneficial with their good deeds. If 
it had not been for them I should never have seen 
again. Lord Chang never tried to cure my eyes. 
The people do well to show the doctors every 
honor, but all this pohteness will not bring back 
Pastor Meng." 

The same thought often occurred to the 
friends as they sadly took up their work. At 
every turn they missed Pastor Meng's wise coun- 
sel and his bright, happy face. No one ever 
could take his place and for days they could 
scarcely mention his name because his loss lay so 
heavy on their hearts. 

The hospital had been very thoroughly looted, 
but the Viceroy had issued an order that if the 
culprits wished to avoid punishment, all stolen 
goods must be returned. The result was that 
before the friends reached the hospital much had 
been brought back. Under the cover of darkness 
there would be a knock at the compound gate, 



258 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

and when it was opened the person who had 
knocked would have disappeared and a bedstead, 
a mattress, or a table would block the way. In 
this manner a great deal of the property was re- 
stored and Wang Dah Mah spent her time in 
bringing order out of chaos. 

It would be impossible to do justice to the 
warmth of Wang Dah Mah's greeting as she 
stood at the gate with tears of joy running down 
her face. 

"The angels have again guarded you, have 
they not, Dong Hsiao Dje?" she exclaimed. 
When Old Scarred Face was lifted from her 
chair and carried into the hospital, the amah's 
countenance was a study. 

"Why did you not leave her to die? She is no 
good to anybody and the world would be a better 
place without her!" the old amah cried. 

"We could not do that. You know who set us 
the example of forgiving our enemies," answered 
Little Small-Feet, as she directed the men how 
to handle the injured woman more gently. 

The day was crowded with cares. Visitors 
and cards of congratulations poured in and there 
was scarcely time to eat. The Viceroy and city 
officials sent messengers to inquire after the 



"THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH" 259 

health of the foreigners and also contributed 
large subscriptions to the hospitals and said that 
the following day they would come in person. 
There was no doubt about it: there was a new 
spirit abroad. 

On the first evening a man came to the com- 
pound gate and asked to see the doctor on im- 
portant business. He was given admission and 
conducted to the doctor's office; after the usual 
bows and mutual inquiries for each other's names 
and health, he told his errand. 

"I have come to make a confession," he said 
simply, "and to tell of the last words of Pastor 
Meng. I do not know whether you will ever for- 
give me for being present, but even if you do not, 
I must speak and rid myself of a burden that is 
choking me," and he made a gesture at his throat 
as if he were actually stranghng. 

"I will not make excuses but plainly say that 
I was with the mob, for the excitement on the 
street seemed to carry me away. When I en- 
tered the compound and saw that the people were 
mad for slaughter, I turned to leave. At that 
moment the stone was hurled that struck Pastor 
Meng and he fell almost at my feet. I heard him 
say, 'Oh, I see Jesus, I see Jesus,' and I have 



260 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

never seen a human face shine as did his at that 
moment. Who is this Jesus whom he spoke 
about and what is the doctrine that will make a 
man lay down his life so gladly for his belief? A 
rehgion that will give a man such courage is the 
religion that I want. Will you not give me the 
secret of its power? When I have found out 
about it, I am willing to be punished, but first 
let me learn this great truth." 

The doctor talked to the man until late into the 
night and his eager mind seemed fairly to drink 
in the message. 

"May I ask," the stranger inquired as he rose 
to leave, "if all the Christians in your country are 
men of burning hearts like Pastor Meng?"^ 

"Men like Pastor Meng are rare in any coun- 
try," the doctor said sadly. 

Another and a frequent visitor was young 
Lord Chang, now Lord Chang in his own right. 
Whenever he could steal away from the lengthy 
mourning at home, he would come to the foreign 
(Joctor and consult him about many questions. 
His father had left a huge fortune, far larger 
than anyone had supposed, and a good third of 

^ Dr. Speer reports that a question like this was actually- 
asked a foreigner after the Boxer uprising. 



*'THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH^' 261 

the land in the city belonged to the estate. The 
young man had decided to keep enough to sup- 
port the family according to their rank, and the 
remainder he wished to use for the benefit of his 
country. He had made up his mind that to ad- 
minister such a vast sum to the greatest advan- 
tage he must have a foreign education, and he 
consulted the doctor about what courses he 
should take and where he should study. Pastor 
Meng's death had also had a profound effect 
upon him. 

"I have never been so impressed by anyone 
as I was by him. I knew as soon as I saw him 
that he had something I had not. Since his death 
I hear from many quarters the kindnesses he did 
in many quiet ways for the poor. I want to be 
trained so that I can be like him and teach others 
the way he did. My country lacks leaders of un- 
selfish purpose, who will gladly lay down their 
lives for the sake of a great cause. China's 
greatest need to-day is men of burning hearts 
like Pastor Meng." 

The doctor was much impressed by the fact 
that two such different types of people had de- 
scribed the impression Pastor Meng had made 
on them in exactly the same words. These ex- 



262 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

pressions of praise were on all the people's lips 
in the next few days. The foreigners were sur- 
prised to discover how widely Pastor Meng was 
known and how many acts of kindness he had 
done in the short months he had been in the city. 
One of the women came with a gift of a few cash 
for the rebuilding of the chapel. 

"I am very poor," she said, and indeed she 
looked it, "but I want to give what I can to help 
the work Pastor Meng loved. He sat up all 
night with my husband when he was so bad with 
the cholera, and he would take no pay. The poor 
of the city have lost a great friend." 

Life at the hospital resumed its usual course, 
and now that the people had lost their prejudices, 
the wards were full. Young Lord Chang had 
offered to give the foreigners a fine piece of 
property in the highest part of the city, on which 
they could erect hospitals, schools, and residences, 
and the friends were soon deep in plans and 
contracts. 

Lord Chang evinced his interest in all these 
plans by making many useful suggestions and 
by helping to engage the best workmen the city 
afforded. Wang Dah Mah was equally inter- 
ested and came almost every day to help in the 



"THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH" 263 

wards. One blustery winter day Wang Dah 
Mah left the palace and took the usual road to 
the hospital. On the preceding morning Hsie 
Yin had visited Lady Chang at the latter's re- 
quest and had prescribed for her cough. Wang 
Dah Mah wished to hear of the result of the 
examination away from her mistress's presence 
so, glad of an excuse to see Hsie Yin, whom she 
admired more than anyone else in the world, she 
decided to go to the foreign compound and make 
her inquiries there. 

"O Wang Dah Mah," Little Small-Feet ex- 
claimed, as she greeted her favorite with out- 
stretched hands, "I am sure that I can help your 
lady. Her cough is not serious; the trouble is 
with her spirits; she seems to be very, very sad. 
Did she love Lord Chang so dearly, that she 
should grieve like this?" 

"That is not the trouble, Dong Hsiao Dje, 
No member of his family could really mourn for 
him ; the house is a pleasanter place now that he 
is gone. Lady Chang has been sorrowful these 
many years because a little daughter was 
drowned in the river and she has never been in- 
terested in anything since that day. The priests 
in the temple told her that the child was not a 



264 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

real human being but a changeling and that she 
ought to be glad that she is gone. We know bet- 
ter now, you and I, and I have been telling my 
mistress about what you taught me and that is the 
reason she wanted to see you. You will go often, 
will you not, and tell her that sometime or other 
she will see the child again?" pleaded Wang Dah 
Mah. 

"Indeed, I will, if your mistress wants me. I 
loved her from the moment I saw her; there is 
something that is very wistful and appealing 
about her. Is it not strange that the palace and 
the gardens seemed very famihar to me? I knew 
without being told where I should find the sum- 
mer house and the view of the river and the 
pagoda seemed like a long-forgotten dream. I 
suppose they must be like some of the gardens in 
the City Lying in the Shadow of Purple Moun- 
tain, but I am sure that there was no pagoda 
there. I must ask my lady about it." 

Wang Dah Mah could give no solution to this 
problem, and seeing that Hsie Yin was busy she 
turned her footsteps toward the wards, for there 
was nothing that the amah liked better than to 
go from bed to bed, talking to the patients and 
telling them the good news that had wrought 



''THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH" 265 

such a change in her life. When she entered the 
room she hesitated to whom she should go first. 
Several women beckoned to her, and Old Scarred 
Face who lay near the door made no sign, but 
there was a fierce questioning look in her eyes 
that drew Wang Dah Mah irresistibly to her 
side. 

The good soul had made up her mind, when 
she saw how Hsie Yin treated Old Scarred Face, 
that if she who had been so grievously wronged 
could act in such a forgiving spirit, she herself 
certainly could. So for several weeks she had 
gone to the beggar in exactly the same way she 
had to other women, and would bring her book 
and read little bits out of the Gospels. Old 
Scarred Face was anything but responsive, but 
she did not revile her for doing it, and Wang 
Dah Mah took that as a favorable sign and con- 
tinued her efforts. Sometimes she went so far as 
to bring the sick woman a flower, an orange, or a 
sweetmeat, and she noticed that at last Old 
Scarred Face seemed to watch the door and her 
face would brighten when she saw the old amah 
approach her. When she drew closer, the cloud 
would again fall, however, and she would greet 
her visitor with the old sullen look. 



266 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

This evening for the first time, Old Scarred 
Face volunteered a remark. 

"What makes them do it? What makes them 
do it?" she said huskily, as if forced by some 
inner compulsion to speak against her will. 

"Do what?" asked Wang Dah Mah be- 
wildered. 

"Take me in and care for me when they must 
hate me the way I do them. They are certainly 
mad; or are they just trying to make me well so 
that they can torture me afterwards? I wish that 
they would kill me at once and be done with it," 
said the beggar woman. 

Wang Dah Mah nearly laughed in her face; 
the thought of Dong Hsiao Dje killing anyone 
was too absurd. 

"They are not going to murder you; they are 
trying to make you well. They are benevolent 
people and to hate anyone is not their custom. 
Their religion tells them to return good for evil. 
That is how the Great Teacher taught them to 
act," the amah answered. 

"Who is this Teacher you are always talking 
about and where did he live?" questioned Old 
Scarred Face, thinking that here she might find 
solution to the mystery. 



"THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH" 267 

"He came to earth to teach us how to Hve, and 
he died for all the world," said Wang Dah Mah. 

"But what made him die?" asked the beggar 
woman. "Tell me all about it." 

"Ah, that is the story that hurts the heart!" 
exclaimed Wang Dah Mah sorrowfully. "Men 
would not receive the news of peace and rest he 
brought and he was done to bitter death by foes." 

The short winter day was drawing to a close, 
and the long evening shadows were filling the 
room with odd distorted outlines; it was just the 
hour when one would talk intimately and softly 
of strange lands and unseen things ; there in the 
twilight, in the picturesque language of the 
Orient, Wang Dah Mah told to this woman who 
was a sinner the story of the crucifixion. Old 
Scarred Face watched the narrator breathlessly 
and listened unconscious of anything else, while 
the amah with fast falling tears made the scene as 
vivid as if it had happened yesterday. It is hard 
for those who have always been familiar with it 
to realize the tragedy and beauty of the story as 
those do who hear it for the first time. 

"You say this thing is true, and that our sins 
will be forgiven and that when we die we will go 
and live with that Great Teacher?" asked Old 



268 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

Scarred Face. "It is a strange tale and hard for 
an ignorant person to understand, but he was a 
good man, a good man!" 

*'Yes, it is true; but to be forgiven, we must 
repent of the evil things that we have done and 
try and do better," said Wang Dah Mah. 

"That would be a miracle; I have been taught 
to hate everyone and look out for myself all my 
life; I am too old for anything else," and as if to 
prove her words. Old Scarred Face began to 
revile her acquaintances, particularly Creeping 
Sin. 

"You should not talk in that dreadful man- 
ner," said Wang Dah Mah sternly. "Decent 
people will not stand it, how much less the great 
God in heaven!" 

To Wang Dah Mah's surprise. Old Scarred 
Face took the rebuke quietly and made no reply. 
The two women had been so intent on their con- 
versation that they had not noticed what was 
going on in the ward around them, but now 
Wang Dah Mah saw that it was time for the 
patient's supper so she rose to leave. 

"It is a strange, strange tale," said Old 
Scarred Face once more. "I should never believe 
it for a moment if they had not treated me so 



"THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH" 269 

I • I 

well here. I should like to see that place you call 
heaven ; I am very tired of wandering from place 
to place, and living in the hovels and caves is 
hard when one is old. Is it even better than the 
hospital?" she asked wistfully. "But I cannot 
change now." 

"Yes, it is far, far better than the hospital, 
and it is never too late. Remember the man on 
the cross; he repented and received forgiveness. 
I must go now for here comes the nurse, but I 
will come to-morrow and tell you more." 

In asking Old Scarred Face to repent and 
confess. Old Wang Dah Mah had unconsciously 
asked of the beggar woman the very hardest 
thing she could have done. A nurse at that 
moment spilled some broth on the bed and was 
startled at the string of dreadful oaths that were 
hurled at her. Wang Dah Mah looked at Old 
Scarred Face reproachfully but to no effect; a 
reaction had set in against her recent docility. 
Very much disappointed, Wang Dah Mah left 
the ward. 

When Wang Dah Mah returned the follow- 
ing day, instead of receiving her with pleasure, 
Old Scarred Face scowled at her and refused to 
speak, and although the amah lingered for some 



270 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

time, she could get no word out of the beggar 
woman. Several days followed with the same 
result and it seemed as if Old Scarred Face 
had repented of having talked so freely and de- 
termined not to commit herself further. No one 
knew of the terrible struggle that was going on 
within her, a struggle between the evil she had 
always known and the tiny seed of good that had 
recently been planted. The doctors wondered 
why her heart should grow weaker and weaker 
and did not realize that it was the violent mental 
conflict that was shortening the woman's life. 
To give up hate for love, to substitute good will 
for malicious deeds, seemed impossible after so 
many years. Yet the fact remained, and Old 
Scarred Face admitted it to herself, that if she 
wished to enjoy any happiness in the future she 
must confess her misdeeds and try to repair the 
mischief she had done before she died. The scene 
on the cross had made a vivid impression on her 
mind and some words of Wang Dah Mah rang 
in her ears: 

"If we do not repent and follow his teaching 
he will have died in vain so far as we are 
concerned." 

The hours dragged on and the woman failed 



*^THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH" 271 

by the moment; it seemed impossible that she 
should live through another night, but her heart 
still beat on, and toward morning grew a little 
firmer. Finally, the nurse standing beside her bed 
thought she saw the sick woman's lips move. She 
bent over her to hear the words, for the voice that 
had been so coarse and harsh was very feeble now. 

"Give me some of that medicine to make me 
strong and send for Wang Dah Mah; I have 
something to say to her," Old Scarred Face 
whispered. 

The nurse did as she was asked and in the 
course of an hour Wang Dah Mah was beside the 
sick woman. 

"Make all these people go away," commanded 
Old Scarred Face. "What I say to you, you 
may tell them yourself, but they shall not have 
the triumph of hearing me." 

Wang Dah Mah told the nurse and the doctors 
what the woman had said and they at once with- 
drew to the other end of the ward. 

"I am too weak to tell the whole story; anyway 
why should I ? The main facts are enough. This 
Dong Hsiao Dje, whom you think so much of, is 
Little Small-Feet. I stole her when I found her 
lost near the blue pagoda and held her for a ran- 



272 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

som. Lord Chang — ^may the dogs tear his heart 
out in the place to which he has gone — refused to 
pay the money, so I kept her until the foreign 
lady adopted her." After this long sentence the 
woman paused for breath. 

"Little Small-Feet? Little Small-Feet? 
Why, your mind must be wandering. Little 
Small-Feet was drowned in the typhoon; her 
father told us the story," exclaimed Wang Dah 
Mah, who could not believe her ears and thought 
that the woman must be inventing this wild tale. 

"You may believe me or not, as you choose, 
but you know Lord Chang well enough to under- 
stand that he would not love to pay a large ran- 
som for anything, particularly for a daughter he 
did not desire. Here is a charm I took from off 
the girl's neck when I sold her clothes. You 
probably made it yourself, so you ought to recog- 
nize it." Old Scarred Face then drew from out 
the garment she was wearing a charm such as 
young children carry to keep off the evil eye. 

When Wang Dah Mah saw this, all her doubts 
were dispelled and she left Old Scarred Face to 
herself and hurried to where the others were 
standing. 

"O Dong Hsiao Dje, Dong Hsiao Dje," she 



^^THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH" 273 

cried, "Old Scarred Face says that you are Little 
Small-Feet." 

"Of course, I am Little Small-Feet, but only 
my lady calls me that now," replied Hsie Yin, 
surprised at Wang Dah Mah's excitement. 

"Yes, but she says you are my Little Small- 
Feet, whom we all thought was drowned in the 
river, and your father was Lord Chang, but he 
would not pay a ransom, so Old Scarred Face 
kept you," answered the amah impulsively seiz- 
ing Hsie Yin's hand. 

They all returned to Old Scarred Face's bed, 
who told them in a feeble voice about her share in 
the kidnaping. As she talked, long-forgotten 
incidents flashed into Hsie Yin's mind which 
went far to confirm the story. 

"Was it you, Wang Dah Mah," Hsie Yin 
asked, "who taught me the song about Little 
Small-Feet? It runs: 



*The small-footed girl 

With the sweet little smile. 
She loves to eat sugar 

And sweets all the while. 
Her money's all gone 

And because she can't buy. 
She holds her small feet 

While she sits down to cry.' 



274 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

"Yes, yes," laughed Wang Dah Mah; "I used 
to sing it to you sitting by the goldfish pool." 

Old Scarred Face listened to them with an 
anxious scowl on her face, but her breath was 
growing labored and her hands cold. 

"When are you going to put me into the 
street?" she faltered. 

"Into the street? Why, what do you mean?" 
asked Hsie Yin. 

"I thought, of course, you would throw me out 
when you had found what I had done. I would 
have turned you out like a dog if you had acted 
so to me. It is the custom here not to let people 
die in the house; it brings bad luck," faltered the 
beggar woman. 

She had been so comfortable in the hospital; 
was it any wonder that her confession cost her a 
great effort when she feared such a result? 

"We would not think of treating anyone m 
such a manner. We are too glad that you have 
told us to take such a mean revenge," said Little 
Small-Feet. 

A great joy flashed over the dying woman's 
face; the hard lines were swept away and a 
gentler look came into the fierce glance. 

"Oh, now I know you spoke the truth when 



^^THE OLD OR DER CHANGETH'' 275 

you told the story of the Great Teacher, for you 
live his words all the time. I hated you because 
Lord Chang refused to pay a ransom for you, 
and I swore that I would have my revenge. We 
beggars are not taught goodness, as you know; 
we think that it makes people soft. Will you 
forgive me, for I never had a chance?" 

Hsie Yin took the clawlike hand and raised it 
to her lips. At the touch of her lips Old Scarred 
Face smiled contentedly, then she closed her 
eyes and they thought that she would not speak 
again. Suddenly, however, she returned to 
consciousness. 

"I have just had a dream," she whispered, 
"and I saw hundreds of thousands of women and 
children clothed in rags and living in wretched- 
ness, women and children exactly like you and I 
were, and they howled and swore and died out in 
the mountains and in their hovels. Is there no 
place like this for them? Will no one tell them 
about the Great Teacher?" 

"We will do our best," sighed Little Small- 
Feet; "that is what we came here for." 

"But you are so few and they are so many; 
their cries ring in my ears, because many of them 
I taught to lie and steal. Won't you tell more 



276 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

people in the great country beyond the seas about 
the beggars and their needs?" moaned Old 
Scarred Face. 

Again she slept and they stood silent watching 
her; then, just as the first rosy fingers of dawn 
drew away the dark curtain of night, a bright 
smile lighted up her face; she drew one sigh of 
deep contentment and then, like the other peni- 
tent woman long ago. Old Scarred Face met her 
Master in the light of the early morning. 

When all was over. Little Small-Feet turned 
to her old amah and said softly, "Now take me 
to my mother, Wang Dah Mah." 



CHAPTER XV 

A CITY WHERE DREAMS COME TRUE 

All the shores when day is done 
Fade into the setting sun. 
So this story tries to teach 
More than can be taught in speech. 

— Alfred Noyes. 

TWELVE years have passed since Little 
Small-Feet came into her own. Every 
March when gentle Spring and her little breezes 
travel northward, she finds new changes in the 
City of the Blue Pagoda and upon the mountain 
side. First, it was the huts that clustered around 
the old wall that had disappeared to be replaced 
by tiny houses and market gardens; the next 
season, she found that a large portion of the 
poorer section had vanished and very plain but 
sanitary buildings had taken the place of the 
hovels. Again, another year, street lights had 
been installed; and, finally, the hospitals and 
schools were completed; never before in the 
history of the Province had education been more 

277 



278 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

popular. Business had improved, too, since 
opium-smoking and gambling had been abol- 
ished; the many junks, steam launches, and 
motor boats on the river told of the increased 
prosperity. 

Hsie Yin and her brother. Lord Chang, have 
been given an opportunity that few reformers 
have had; the immense fortune their father left 
has made it possible to carry out the ideas that 
they received while studying abroad, and their 
gift for organization and reconstruction has kept 
them from the mistakes that idealists often make. 
They have wrought their changes gradually, so 
as not to arouse the hostility of a very conserva- 
tive people, delaying improvements long after 
they were planned in order to carry public opin- 
ion with them. Their personal popularity, and 
the fact that it was members of their own race 
and not foreigners who were suggesting these 
ridiculous alterations, has helped very much to 
allay fears and break down prejudice. 

"Oh, yes," the poor people say, with a shake 
of the head, "the great folks are wild for cleanli- 
ness and order ; let them have it if they are willing 
to pay for it." 

Of course the rougher element, the beggars 



A CITY WHERE DREAMS COME TRUE 279 

and criminals, were much against these innova- 
tions and tried to make trouble, but young Lord 
Chang's prominent position made it possible for 
him to have them banished or punished and these 
disturbances ceased. 

The foreign doctor and the Great Helpful 
Lady remained in the city for eight years; then 
the doctor broke down in health and was forced 
to return to his own country. Little Small-Feet 
has greatly missed their companionship. She has 
secured two foreign-trained Chinese doctors to 
fill their places, but the newcomers are at 
present too immature to be trusted with the full 
responsibility. 

The work that is dearest to Hsie Yin's heart is 
that among the girls and beggar children. One 
of the prettiest and quaintest sights in all the 
world may be seen on the mornings when Little 
Small-Feet visits the kindergarten ; the little tots 
cluster around her, clutching at her skirts and 
looking up into her face with adoring eyes, or 
draw their chairs in a circle to hear her tell them 
a story. 

Has it paid to educate Hsie Yin? The women 
who sit by their doorways would give us their 
opinion if we could understand them. As of yore 



280 THE BELLS OF THE BLUE PAGODA 

they have very decided opinions on a variety of 
subjects. But the legends which they tell their 
children in the dusk are quite different from 
those with which Wang Dah Mah used to 
frighten her darling; demons and evil spirits are 
slowly going out of fashion. Instead, they relate 
a tale about a brave man named Pastor Meng, 
who defied a mob and met a hero's death rather 
than betray his friends ; but the story the children 
like best to hear is the story of a little baby born 
in a palace who was stolen by a wicked beggar 
and traveled all over the land until, finally, a 
kind lady found her and brought her up. Later, 
when she had become a beautiful woman, she dis- 
covered her old home, becoming wealthy once 
more, but with all her riches she never forgot to 
be a friend to the poor. So every little boy 
decides to grow up like Pastor Meng and each 
tiny girl wishes to be a second Hsie Yin. 

Little Small-Feet lives a very busy life, but 
whenever she does have an hour to spare, the 
place she likes best to visit is her father's garden. 
In the late afternoon Wang Dah Mah often finds 
her mistress in the summer house that overlooks 
the river. The sun touches the broad stream, 
showering its golden rays over the blue pagoda. 



A CITY WHERE DREAMS COME TRUE 281 

then slips beyond the earth's rim, leaving a path 
of crimson in the sky. 

"The bells are quiet to-night," Little Small- 
Feet murmurs. 

"Yes," Wang Dah Mah replies, "and they did 
not ring when you were born. That used to 
trouble me, but I know better now, although 
somehow even yet I feel more rested when I hear 
them ringing." 

Perhaps the little breezes are listening to the 
old amah's words. It surely seems as if they 
must be, for they leave off romping down the 
garden paths and hurry to the river bank. There 
they sway the pagoda bells back and forth with 
gentle fingers and the music of the silver tones 
lulls the city to sleep. 

"It must be the hands of angels," Little Small- 
Feet whispers. "No mortal touch could move 
the bells so softly." 



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